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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Patrick Butler Social policy editor

More than 250 UK unpaid carers risk prosecution over benefit overpayments

DWP Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions has been imposing harsh penalties on carers who breach overpayment rules by as little as £1.
The Department for Work and Pensions has been imposing harsh penalties on carers who breach overpayment rules by as little as £1. Photograph: Jozef Polc/Alamy

More than 250 unpaid carers risk criminal prosecution after falling foul of draconian benefit rules in the past six months, official figures reveal.

Since April, when the carer’s allowance scandal was first revealed by the Guardian, officials have begun to recoup overpayments debts from more than 15,000 carers, with 50 of them repaying sums of at least £10,000.

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