Recovery of Carers Allowance overpayments

This isn't a party political point, as the system has been the same for decades. I think one of the underlying problems with entitlement to means tested benefits is that entitlement falls off a cliff edge rather than tapering to zero. Earn £x and you are entitled to the full amount, but earn 1 penny over £x and entitlement ceases entirely.
My brother was unable to work, lived pretty much independently but in supported accommodation, and tried to claim Pension Credits. This was in the days before pension age was equalised so he was claiming at age 60. The calculations done a very nice lady from the Pensions Service showed his income as less than £2 too high to qualify. As a result he had to pay his rent, council tax etc with no help. Somebody living in exactly the same block but earning £2.01 less would have had both paid. How can that be fair?
I fully appreciate there has to be a cut off point, but surely not a cliff edge?

 

I agree, its stupid, I'm not sure who thinks up this kind of thing up and how it ever gets put into practice.

I used to know people at work who never did overtime because it would mean they were earing too much for some such benefit.

 

I think that somewhere is Whitehall is "The Department for Ridiculous Ideas Which Must Be Implemented Immediately and Without Consultation"

 

And on the other hand a person I know played the system when he left school. His GP signed him off as unable to work. So this guy is in a local rock band, goes bait digging/fishing..........all with a very bad back

 

I accept that there are plenty of false claims and not all, or anywhere near all, are caught. That doesn't mean the genuine should suffer because of them.

 

Given the billions wasted on PPE, the real injustice is clawing the money back from these overpayments just because it is easy to organise.

I agree cliff-edge cut-offs are really counterproductive. Carers save society huge amounts of money and yet are begrudged very modest financial assistance.

 

I have less sympathy, in fact next to no sympathy, for those in the situation reported where somebody won £80k and blew the lot in either 2 weeks or 2 months, depending on which report you read. They then moaned that their benefits had been stopped.