‘Humiliated’: carer made to pay back £3.8k after mistake declaring income

Davina Ware applied for benefits to help look after husband Mike, 72, who has lived with Parkinson’s for 20 years

The pain cuts through Davina Ware’s voice as she describes her experience of carer’s allowance, the meagre weekly benefit given to those heralded by the government as Britain’s “unsung heroes”.

She feels “humiliated,” “devastated,” and “treated like a conniving thief” by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) since she received its demand, three months before her retirement, to repay nearly £4,000.