Woman, 86, told she no longer has to repay £13,000 in benefits in DWP U-turn

Sia Kasparis’s son Andrew said it would have been ‘virtually impossible’ for her to contact the DWP. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

An 86-year-old woman with advanced dementia has been told by the government she no longer has to repay a £13,000 benefit debt after her case was highlighted by the Guardian.

Sia Kasparis, who is partially blind and has been bed-bound for two years, was ordered to repay the huge sum after officials said she had failed to notify them her son had taken up caring duties.