The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued an update as a legal challenge from the WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality) is due a response today (March 10).
Campaigners are calling for a judicial review of the Government’s decision not to grant compensation to the WASPI generation of women.
The 1950s-born women were affected when their state pension age increased from 60 to 65 and then 66. They claim they were not properly informed of the change, with many unaware they would have to wait several more years to claim their payments, ruining their retirement plans.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman previously looked into the matter and ruled there was ‘maladministration’ in the DWP’s efforts to inform the women of the change. The group recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950.
But the Labour Government announced at the end of last year that there would be no payment scheme. The campaigners sent a letter to the DWP outlining their fresh legal claim and demanding a response on February 23.
Referring to the decision not to compensate, the letter states: “The decision is unlawful and, unless it is withdrawn by you with an appropriate recognition of its illegality, WASPI will ask the Administrative Court to quash the Decision and/or grant appropriate declaratory relief.”
A fundraiser for the legal project has reached some £145,000 in support at the time of writing. Asked for an update on the legal challenge, the DWP said: “We do not comment on live litigation.
“We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006, 90% of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing. The Government cannot justify paying for a £10.5 billion compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.
Many individual MPs back the WASPI cause, with the Liberal Democrats and the SNP backing the campaign as a party position. Some politicians have previously called for payouts of £10,000 or more.
Fiona Peake, personal finance expert at Ocean Finance, said the women do deserve compensation. She said: “Many planned their retirements based on what they were told, only to be blindsided by changes.”
She said compensation could come in direct payments or through adjustments to the women’s state pension entitlement.
The expert said: “The key is fairness. These women lost out due to poor communication, and that needs to be put right.”
Angela Madden, chair of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI), said when announcing the legal challenge: “We will not allow the DWP’s gaslighting of WASPI women go unchallenged.
“The Government has accepted that 1950s-born women are victims of maladministration, but it now says none of us suffered any injustice. We believe this is not only an outrage but legally wrong.
“Scores of MPs have expressed outrage at the Government’s decision to ignore the independent Ombudsman and refuse compensation despite it clearly being owed.
“But ministers refuse to listen to their own MPs, and as such we are forced – once again – to take to the courts to obtain justice. We have been successful before and we are confident we will be again.”
