The first progress report by the DWP on reviewing carer’s allowance cases that may have been affected by misleading guidance reveals that, at current rates of progress, it will take 40 years to work through them all.
The Sayce review into carer’s allowance, which ended in November 2025, found that many overpayments were caused by unclear and sometimes incorrect guidance issued by the DWP, which meant that carers did not know what they needed to report and when.
As a result, the DWP undertook to look again at all carer’s allowance overpayments between 2015 and 2025 and reduce debts or refund money where appropriate.
In the first 5 months of reassessments, the DWP has cleared just 2,400 cases out of a total of 230,900 that have been identified as potentially involved.
Of the 2,400 cases looked at so far:
200 had the overpayment decision changes
100 had their debt reduced by an average of £251
100 were given a repayment of an average £342
The DWP still claims it will have completed the entire review process by March 2029, which will require a dramatic increase in the speed of the process.
You can read the DWP update on carer’s allowance overpayments here.
