Background
Carer’s Allowance gives financial support to people who provide regular and substantial care for someone. The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) administers the benefit, which is currently £86.45 per week. In 2024-25, around one million people received Carer’s Allowance, with payments totalling over £4.2 billion.
There have been longstanding concerns about overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, where claimants receive more than they are entitled to and build up debt. The NAO previously reported on this issue in 2019 in Investigation into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, and in 2024, in Carer’s Allowance.
In December 2024, DWP commissioned an independent review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments, led by disability policy expert Liz Sayce. Published in July 2025, the review made 40 recommendations. DWP accepted 38 of these and is working to implement them, including reassessing cases to identify carers who were affected by inconsistent DWP guidance. DWP expects to review over 200,000 cases and around 25,000 carers could see their debts reduced or cancelled, or receive refunds.
Scope
This study will examine DWP’s progress in addressing issues of concern in relation to overpayments of Carer’s Allowance. We will look at:
- whether DWP is getting on top of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance
- the actions DWP is taking in response to key issues raised in the independent review of Carer’s Allowance
- whether DWP has learnt wider lessons from its experience with Carer’s Allowance.
This study will not examine individual cases.
NAO team
Director: Laura Brackwell
Study Manager: Mark Parrett