THOUSANDS of unpaid carers could have historic carer’s allowance overpayments cancelled or repaid after a review found many had been hit with huge debts because of “unclear and confusing regulations.”

The year-long Sayce Review, published today, concluded that carers felt “treated as criminals,” with some racking up brutal debts or leaving work after unknowingly breaching the former £151 weekly earnings limit by only a few pence.

The damning review found the way the Department for Work and Pensions “treats earnings, especially in averaging and allowable expenses, is inconsistent and unclear,” and that the strict “cliff edge” of losing the full allowance for going even 1p over had severely discouraged carers from paid work.

The government will now review overpayments for 185,000 carers in England and Wales, covering cases from 2015 to September 2025.

Linda Burnip, of Disabled People Against Cuts, said: “This is yet another massive mess created by the incompetence of DWP and is one of many scenarios where error on their part is to blame for overpayments rather than fraud on the part of claimants.

“Carers Allowance, as an hourly rate for often being on call 365 days a year and 24 hours a day, is so low it is an insult to family carers, given the huge amounts of money they save the state.”

Carers UK chief executive Helen Walker called the reassessments “a righting of a clear wrong” and said it could begin to rebuild trust.

The review recommends removing “severe ambiguity” around reporting earnings, speeding up plans to fix the “cliff edge,” modernising data and benefit processes and reclassifying all systemic overpayments as not recoverable.

Ministers said they accept the “vast majority” of recommendations and will set out reassessment details in the new year.