Question 1: Who is Clemency Jacques and what situation did she face?
Clemency Jacques is an unpaid carer who looks after her disabled son and elderly mother. She faced a £1,300 penalty for inadvertently breaching benefit rules related to her carer’s allowance, which resulted in a £2,600 overpayment.
Question 2: What action did the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) take regarding Clemency Jacques' penalty?
The DWP waived the £1,300 penalty after her case was highlighted in the Guardian, following her threat of prosecution for fraud due to the overpayment.
Question 3: How many people are affected by carer’s allowance overpayments, according to the article?
According to the article, Clemency Jacques is one of 134,500 people who are repaying a total of £251 million in carer’s allowance overpayments.
Question 4: What were the potential consequences Clemency Jacques faced if she did not pay the penalty?
If Clemency Jacques did not pay the penalty, she risked police arrest and a court appearance due to the alleged fraud related to the overpayment of her carer’s allowance.