Martin Lewis warns people will lose £80 out of their DWP benefits

The BBC Sounds podcast host spoke out on Twitter, now X, over the rule from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Martin Lewis has said "sadly no" as he warned over a little-known Carer's Allowance rule which could see your benefit axed and you have to repay THOUSANDS. The BBC Sounds podcast host spoke out on Twitter, now X, over the rule from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Mr Lewis said: "Sadly no. If carers they get paid 1p more than the £151/wk threshold they lose the WHOLE £80 carers allowance. So if the broken system wrongly keeps paying, which it oft does and these stressed busy vulnerable people don't notice (eg after min wage change) they're the asked to back pay many weeks/moths of £80. That's why I believe it should move from a cliff edge to a taper."

It came after a social media user asked: "They only owe the bit over the threshold surely." It came as it emerged the Government is launching a review into Carer's Allowance overpayments after "thousands" of people were forced to pay back their benefits due to "innocent mistakes".

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Another said: "Mine stopped as I was paid an extra day to attend child protection training which was crucial to my paid job. I worked 1.5 days a week and was prevented from bettering my future career prospects. Caring impacted my health so much that 15 years on, I can only manage 20hrs a week."

The DWP confirmed that former Disability Rights UK Chief Executive Liz Sayce OBE, who is now a visiting professor in practice at the London School of Economics (LSE), would lead the review. As of May 14 2024, the DWP was working to recover money from 134,800 people who claimed Carer's Allowance.

Official data also shows that 119 cases have gone to court in the last two years after being referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by the DWP. Fellow carer and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said it was a "disgrace" that carers were facing "an expensive fine or a criminal record, just for making an innocent mistake".