New DWP payment update for WASPI women | Personal Finance | Finance
WASPI women have been given an update on their appeal for compensation.
Unfortunately for them, it is not the news they have been hoping for. Ministers have once again assessed calls to pay compensation to millions of WASPI women, despite a recommendation that those affected should receive payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950. In a fresh decision published on Tuesday, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it would not introduce any compensation scheme for women born in the 1950s who were affected by failures in the communication of State Pension age changes.
The move is a major blow for campaigners after the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) concluded that women suffered injustice because of delays in the DWP writing to them about increases to their State Pension age.
The watchdog previously suggested compensation at level four on its scale of injustice, equivalent to payments of between £1,000 and £2,950, and said Parliament should consider a mechanism to provide redress. Up to 3.5 million women could potentially have been affected.
However, ministers have now doubled down on their refusal to pay. The DWP said: “We have decided against introducing financial compensation for women affected by the delay in sending out State Pension age letters.”
It added: “Introducing a financial compensation scheme is neither fair nor feasible and would not represent good value for taxpayers, and, as a consequence, one will not be set up.”
Why was a new decision needed?
The Government had already rejected compensation in December 2024. But ministers were forced to revisit the issue after a legal challenge highlighted a 2007 DWP research report that had not been taken into account when the original decision was made.
The report examined the effectiveness of pension communications and found that unsolicited pension forecasts had only a limited impact on people’s knowledge and retirement planning.
After reviewing the evidence, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden committed to make a fresh decision on the State Pension age communications issue. The Government’s new conclusion is that the additional evidence does not alter its overall position.
DWP apologises but refuses payouts
The Ombudsman found maladministration in two areas, concluding that decisions taken between 2005 and 2007 led to a 28-month delay in starting a direct mailing exercise to women affected by the 1995 Pensions Act.
The DWP has accepted that finding and issued an apology. It said: “We are sorry that we did not send individual letters earlier in this case.”
But ministers insist there was no direct financial loss caused by the delay and argue that most women already knew that the State Pension age was changing.
The document states: “The evidence is also clear that the majority of 1950s-born women knew that State Pension age was changing.”
Officials also argued that it would be impossible to create a fair compensation scheme because it would be difficult to establish what individual women knew or would have done differently more than 20 years ago.
Bill could have topped £10bn
The DWP said paying all affected women compensation at the Ombudsman’s suggested level could cost between £3.5 billion and £10.3 billion, before administration costs are taken into account.
Ministers said such a scheme would risk paying large sums to women who either already knew about the changes or had not suffered any injustice.
The department concluded: “Making awards to up to 3.5 million people, very many of whom will not have suffered injustice and/or will have been aware that the State Pension age was increasing, is neither fair nor affordable.”
The latest announcement is likely to reignite anger among campaigners, who have spent years pressing for compensation for women affected by the way State Pension age changes were communicated. However, the Government’s fresh ruling appears to leave little prospect of payouts without further legal or political intervention.
