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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Patrick Butler Social policy editor

HISTORICAL FACTS: Dwp pursued womans employer for nonexistent benefit debt - The Untold Story

The letters 'DWP' printed in green on a light blue document
A review of carer benefit overpayments said outdated computer systems, flawed internal communication and poor access to records hampered effective administration at the DWP. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

A woman providing full-time unpaid care for her elderly disabled mother says her job was put in jeopardy after welfare officials wrongly pursued her employer for a nonexistent “benefit debt” quashed by the courts nearly four years ago.

The 44-year-old woman said she was staggered when the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wrote to her employer out of the blue this month demanding they deduct the long-forgotten universal credit overpayment “debt” from her salary.

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