To: Kier Starmer Prime Minister
DWP STOP THE WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS OF UNPAID CARERS
We the undersigned demand that the Prime Minister intervenes in the wrongful prosecution and convictions of carers who received carers allowance overpayments.
Why is this important?
Carers provide over £162bn in savings to the UK economy and now carers are being targeted by the DWP for prosecution relating to overpayments that the DWP could have stopped.
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned call upon the government of the United Kingdom to immediately halt all existing and further investigations by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) into erroneous claims for Carers Allowance resulting in overpayments.
The DWP has the facilities to be able to determine whether a claimant is being overpaid within weeks of the overpayment being made, so why is it taking this public body, years to detect overpayments.
As you have already discussed in previous sittings in the House of Parliament and may have read in both local and national newspapers, carers are being scrutinised by the DWP, personal finances are being looked at, and law-abiding citizens are being convicted of fraud due to errors made by the DWP.
These convictions are being used to prosecute “victims” of these overpayments for the DWP to use the Proceeds of Crimes Act to recover the overpayment, meaning that claimants are losing their right to family inheritance and life savings.
The responsibility lies with the Department for Work and Pensions to notify claimants of the overpayments as soon as they are aware that the overpayment has occurred, this is fundamental in business as according to ACAS, so why is it not compulsory for the DWP to abide by these rules, and why are the DWP not asking persons who have been overpaid to repay the money at a rate that is suitable for them?
The Department for Work and Pensions is a ministerial department that is overseen by the UK Government, we call upon you to act in the best interests of the public, to stop these proceedings and assist in the recovery of the public funds without turning pensioners, the vulnerable and the weak into criminals.
Thank you for your time Prime Minister.
On Behalf of carers across the UK.
Dear Prime Minister,
We, the undersigned call upon the government of the United Kingdom to immediately halt all existing and further investigations by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) into erroneous claims for Carers Allowance resulting in overpayments.
The DWP has the facilities to be able to determine whether a claimant is being overpaid within weeks of the overpayment being made, so why is it taking this public body, years to detect overpayments.
As you have already discussed in previous sittings in the House of Parliament and may have read in both local and national newspapers, carers are being scrutinised by the DWP, personal finances are being looked at, and law-abiding citizens are being convicted of fraud due to errors made by the DWP.
These convictions are being used to prosecute “victims” of these overpayments for the DWP to use the Proceeds of Crimes Act to recover the overpayment, meaning that claimants are losing their right to family inheritance and life savings.
The responsibility lies with the Department for Work and Pensions to notify claimants of the overpayments as soon as they are aware that the overpayment has occurred, this is fundamental in business as according to ACAS, so why is it not compulsory for the DWP to abide by these rules, and why are the DWP not asking persons who have been overpaid to repay the money at a rate that is suitable for them?
The Department for Work and Pensions is a ministerial department that is overseen by the UK Government, we call upon you to act in the best interests of the public, to stop these proceedings and assist in the recovery of the public funds without turning pensioners, the vulnerable and the weak into criminals.
Thank you for your time Prime Minister.
On Behalf of carers across the UK.
How it will be delivered
In person to 10 Downing Street
