DWP left dad suicidal after 'vindictive' fine over £110 claimed his home

George Henderson, 64, from Leyland, Lancashire, was mistakenly paid under £110 in benefits, leading to a benefit fraud prosecution by the DWP in 2018, which resulted in him having to sell his two-bedroom home. In a recent admission, the DWP conceded in a letter that he likely made an innocent error.

The Mirror reports that prosecutors accused him of disregarding annual reminders to declare any changes in circumstances and falsely claiming he was unemployed. The stress of the situation drove him to attempt suicide, and he has been unable to return to work since the court case.

READ MORE: DWP could stop PIP payments if claimants do not tell them about certain changes

Now, amid public outrage and calls from charities for a system overhaul, he is considering appealing his sentence again.

Henderson wrote to Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, detailing his struggle and his efforts to overturn his conviction on appeal. Astonishingly, he received an apologetic response from the DWP, though they did not offer compensation.

The letter acknowledged: "The appeal conceded that you were a convincing and credible witness [and] it was more probable than not that you were telling the truth and that the false declaration was an innocent mistake."

A dispute erupted last week when the DWP seized a woman's £16,000 inheritance because she failed to declare her minimum wage job at the Co-op. Mrs Groom had been caring for her elderly mother while also working.

She had agreed to a repayment plan, but the DWP confiscated her inheritance under the Proceeds of Crime Act - the same act used to seize Mr Henderson's home.

Speaking to the Mirror, he said: "I wasn't guilty. I didn't commit any fraudulent crime, it was an honest mistake."

Mr Henderson began repaying the money in instalments before the DWP utilised the Proceeds of Crime Act - typically employed to reclaim money from major criminals and drug dealers - to confiscate his property and repay £20,900 of overpaid carer's allowance plus fines.

If he resisted, he risked seven months in jail and would have had to sell the property regardless. The forced sale of his house and monthly letters from officials warning him of potential imprisonment led him to contemplate suicide.

He stated: "I was on the verge of a breakdown. The house had been valued in court at £135,000 but I felt like these letters were playing with my mind."

"One said I would face seven months in prison, the next one said 265 days. I sold it for 20 grand less than it was worth just to get it away. One night I'd had a drink and I put a noose up in the loft."

"My brother-in-law died a few years ago. I had a photo of him that I was looking at, as tears ran down my face, and I was asking him if it would hurt. My girlfriend rang the Crisis team and I was under them for four months. They wouldn't let me live alone. I lost four stone as I couldn't eat, I look at photos from that time and you can see my ribcage."

Mr Henderson has now been diagnosed with waiting to undergo EDMR therapy for PTSD. This therapy operates on the premise that traumatic memories can be reprocessed through therapy involving eye movement, physical and aural prompts.

He has previously undergone counselling and still suffers from constant nightmares about going to prison. He said: "It was wrong, a disgrace. I've not got any trust in the benefits agencies."

Reflecting on the impact it had on his life, he confesses he feels like "he's lost years of my life".

He added: "I'm withdrawn now, I don't see my family as often as I should. My family had a surprise 60th birthday for me but I couldn't go. I can't be in company. It's awful."

Now residing in supported accommodation in Walton-le-Dale, Mr Henderson heartbreakingly visited his old home following the sale. He said: "I've just had a look at it from the outside, it brought tears to my eyes about how it should still be mine. That was my kids' inheritance and they took it off me."

Unpaid carers who provide at least 35 hours of care per week are eligible to claim Carer's Allowance. Mr Henderson, who has been caring for his son John, now 42, with learning difficulties and a history of heroin addiction, is one such carer.

Claimants can also earn income from employment, but the current limit is £151 per week, after deductions for tax, national insurance and expenses.

If earnings exceed this limit by even a penny, the entire benefit payment is forfeited and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) seeks to recover the full amount as an 'overpayment'. In August 2010, Mr Henderson began claiming carer's allowance instead of allowing his son to receive a disability benefit directly, in order to prevent exploitation by drug dealers.

However, during the application process, Mr Henderson, who also has two daughters, Debbie, 44, and Anne-Marie, 39, mistakenly indicated that he was unemployed. In reality, he was earning over £120 per week as a taxi driver, which made him ineligible for the allowance.

The difference between his son's benefit and the carer's allowance was a mere 30p.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) alerts benefits staff if a person claiming Carer's Allowance earns too much.

However, for a six-year period, the DWP overlooked the fact that he was paying tax and had received £19,500 carer's allowance during this time. Henderson defended himself with a not guilty plea in court, where he was handed a suspended jail sentence, along with a 16 week electronic tagging order.

Last year, a report for Carers Week indicated that there are approximately 10.6 million unpaid carers currently residing in the UK.

In 2019, the Department for Work and Pension (DWP)'s "administrative failures" were blasted by MPs, noting these led to significant overpayment of the Carer's Allowance. A scathing review highlighted that the DWP doesn't assess the impact repayments have on the lives of carers or those they look after.

The Work and Pensions Select Committee criticised: "Carers - who often lead very stressful lives and whose invaluable contribution saves the taxpayer substantial costs - can suffer considerable distress and face financial difficulties when they have to repay overpayments that they often had no idea they were accruing."

"It is therefore unacceptable that the Department has stuck its head in the sand and done nothing to assess how these repayments affect the lives of carers and those that they care for."

At the time, the department announced it was commissioning a study to examine the emotional and physical impact on claimants' well-being, scheduled for release in Spring 2020; however, the report remains unpublished. The group observed that "in theory, the Department should be spotting these errors because it has access to data about carers' earnings from HMRC."

Yet, due to system issues and staff shortages, there were significant backlogs in the verification process, resulting in numerous carers accruing debt. Ministers at the time suggested that new data-matching technology would address this issue, but in the fiscal year 2022-23, a total of 26,739 carers had to repay funds owing to earnings violations.

In that timeframe, 11,476 individuals were reimbursing amounts ranging from £1,000 to £5,000, and 36 faced repayments exceeding £20,000. The DWP maintains that carers have a legal obligation to inform them of any changes in circumstances that might affect their eligibility.

Professor Sue Yeandle, a care expert and leader of the Sustainable Care programme at Sheffield University, condemned the existing system as a 'national disgrace'. She expressed her dismay: "We should be ashamed of this situation, how on earth has our welfare system come to this, that we're actually prosecuting and taking assets away from people who are trying to help the neediest people in the country by providing free labour? ".

Reacting to George's prosecution, she labelled it as "vindictive", further stating: "It is completely at variance with what ought to be the fundamental principles of the welfare state. For people in times of trouble, through no fault of their own, who are unable to support themselves through work, that's what it is supposed to be about."

Last month, during a Commons hearing on the subject, the Professor asserted that repayment demands should be forgiven if the carer is found not at fault. She expressed: "If you were going to defraud the system, you would not start with carer's allowance. It would not be a very clever move. It happens to people by accident and then they are finding themselves in an almost Kafkaesque mess that they cannot get out of."

"We should have a process whereby if it is genuinely not their fault because questions have not been asked or checks have not been made, they should be written off."

Carers UK's Chief Executive, Helen Walker, relayed to the Mirror: "A wholescale reform and review of Carer's Allowance and other carers' benefits is needed to ensure these adequately support unpaid carers during the time they spend caring for someone and so that the system does not punish them for misinterpreting complicated and harsh earnings rules."

"It's shocking that there has been so little investment in the way that Carer's Allowance is operated and the tight rules mean that many carers who need it, aren't getting it. It's even worse when you consider how much unpaid carers' support is worth, which is billions every year."

"We need the systems within the Department for Work and Pensions to understand and tackle some of the challenges carers face in claiming benefits much better. We want to see the Department's research, which they commissioned several years ago and, despite repeated requests, has not been published."

"Thousands of carers have told us that reforming carers' finances is their top priority. Unpaid carers deserve better from our politicians and they must be a priority for investment."

Dominic Carter, Carers Trust's Director of Policy and Public Affairs, said: "It's nothing short of cruel to ruthlessly pursue thousands of dedicated carers who have unwittingly overclaimed Carer's Allowance."

"Carer's Allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind at just £81.90 a week. Not only that, it also comes with a bewildering range of rules. You can't claim it if you earn more than £151 a week. And you can only claim if you're caring for someone for at least 35 hours or more per week."

"What this means is you either have to work less or you miss out on Carer's Allowance. Carers Trust research shows nearly two-thirds of unpaid carers have had to give up work completely or cut back on their working hours because of the pressures they face."

"It's no wonder so many dedicated carers are both falling into poverty and falling foul of this grossly unfair and over-complicated system. Instead of using complex rules to threaten decent people with prosecution when all they're trying to do is care for a family member, the Government should be urgently overhauling Carer's Allowance. It is simply not fit for purpose. Changing the rules around earnings and working hours limits would be a vital first step."

A spokesperson for DWP stated: "We are committed to fairly supporting all those who need the welfare system, while fulfilling our duty to treating taxpayer's money responsibly."

"Claimants have a responsibility to inform DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award, and it is right that we recover taxpayers' money when this has not occurred."

"We will work with those who need support with their repayment terms whilst protecting the public purse."

If you are struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch.