It's like the Post Office scandal': victims of carer's allowance crisis speak out

"Vivienne Groom had never been inside the dock of a criminal court when she stood, sobbing and shaking, before a judge last year. She was accused by the government of unlawfully claiming nearly 17,000 in carer's allowance while she juggled a minimum wage supermarket job with being the sole carer for her dying mother. The quiet 61-year-old with not even a parking ticket to her name was horrified by the alleged infraction."

"I was absolutely petrified. I was in such a mess. I wouldn't have coped, she said, adding that she would have killed herself had she been jailed. I was suicidal. I would've done myself in. One judge saw that Groom, from Tarvin near Chester, was evidently not the typical benefits cheat, telling her you were living an ordinary lifestyle, just doing your best. Another also showed compassion but, without legal representation and desperate to get the ordeal over, Groom pleaded guilty."

"She was spared jail but ordered to hand the government the entire 16,000 inheritance left by her mother, Maud, when she died at the age of 91. The shocking case is the first to be revealed by the Guardian as part of a carer's allowance investigation that began in early 2024. Hundreds more carers have been prosecuted in a similar way and hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to repay about 350m between them since 2019."

Vivienne Groom, a 61-year-old sole carer, was prosecuted for allegedly unlawfully claiming nearly 17,000 in carer's allowance while working a minimum-wage supermarket job and caring for her dying mother. She pleaded guilty without legal representation, was spared jail, but ordered to hand over her mother's entire 16,000 inheritance. Hundreds more carers have faced similar prosecutions and about 350m has been ordered reclaimed since 2019. An independent review found many cases resulted from unclear rules and Department for Work and Pensions administrative failure rather than wilful fraud. Groom welcomed the findings but does not expect an apology, reimbursement, or quashing of her conviction.

Read at www.theguardian.com