DWP update as WASPI compensation is set to be ‘paid soon’ | Personal Finance | Finance
An important update for hundreds of thousands of women seeking compensation over sudden pension changes could be announced in the “the coming weeks”, a Labour minister has said.
WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) have been lobbying Parliament for years over changes made under the 2011 Pensions Act which brought the qualifying age for pensions for women from age 60 to 65, the same as men.
The 2011 legislation accelerated a previous timetable for the increase in age limit, from 2020 to 2018.
The Act affected around 2.6 million women, bringing particular pain to around 300,000 born between December 1953 and October 1954 who were about to retire but who then had to wait an extra 18 months for their pension.
WASPI do not argue against an equal age for men and women recieving a pension, but they do argue hundreds of thousands of women should be compensated for a lack of warning their circumstances were about to change.
A subsequent report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said the Government had failed to adequately inform thousands of women that the state pension age had changed.
Now a minister has revealed news of what compensation if any WASPI women will receive could be announced soon.
In a debate in the House of Commons last week Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling said: “I am sure all Members in this Chamber are aware of the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign and the parliamentary ombudsman’s findings.
“Will the Secretary of State commit to making a statement in the House before Christmas on progress with her review of the ombudsman’s report?”
In response to Mr Darling’s question, Emma Reynols, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “As the Honourable Gentleman will know, the ombudsman took six years to consider a range of complex cases, and we are looking at their complexity. I was the first Minister in six years to meet representatives of the WASPI campaign.
Ms Reynolds added that her department “hope to be able to update the House in the coming weeks”.
For advice on checking your pension age you can visit the Government website page here.
