Carers threatened with prosecution over minor breaches of UK benefit rules

DWP is forcing tens of thousands of people looking after relatives to repay huge sums after buildup of erroneous overpayments

• Analysis: Why are so many carers being taken to court?
• Explainer: Who are the unpaid carers?
• DWP are the real criminals': carer in tatters after brutal' fraud prosecution

Tens of thousands of unpaid carers looking after disabled, frail or ill relatives are being forced to repay huge sums to the government and threatened with criminal prosecution after unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week.

People who claim the 81.90-a-week carer's allowance for looking after loved ones while working part-timeare being forced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to pay back money that have been erroneously overpaid to them, in some cases running to more than 20,000, or risk going to prison.