WASPI replies to those who say millionaire OAPs shouldn’t get compo | Personal Finance | Finance
The WASPI campaign has a simple message for anyone who thinks well-off pensioners among their ranks don’t deserve compensation. The campaign group, along with other advocacy groups, has fought for over a decade to get DWP compensation for the generation of 1950s-born women they represent.
This is the generation of women impacted when the state pension age for women went up from 60 to 65 and then 66. The campaigners claim many of these women did not know of the change, ruining their retirement plans when they found out, and that the DWP should have done more to tell them.
The PHSO (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman) previously investigated the issue, finding there was ‘maladministration’ on the part of the DWP. In a reported published in 2023, the watchdog said the Government should have sent out letters to the women sooner, and recommended payouts ranging from £1,000 to £2,950.
Whether or not to provide payouts has divided MPs in Westminster, with many individual MPs calling for compensation of different amounts. Some political parties have consistently backed the cause over the years, including the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the SNP.
Yet other politicians have made the case that the women should not get any payouts. Other MPs have put forward the idea of a means-tested resolution, with more wealthy pensioners getting less in compensation.
Angela Madden, chair of the WASPI campaign, said that while some may ask ‘Why should millionaires get compensation?’, the answer is simple: “Because they have suffered injustice.”
She explained: “As with any wrongdoing there needs to be blame – the DWP have accepted maladministration; and injury – the Ombudsman found that we had lost the opportunity to make the right decisions about our retirement because we had the wrong information = grounds for a claim.” She added: “Wealth or poverty doesn’t come into it.”
The Labour Government issued a decision on the matter in December 2024, saying there would be no compensation. Ministers accepted there was maladministration but made the case that sending out letters to the women sooner would have made little difference.
But WASPI applied for a judicial review of this decision, which was set to take place in December 2025. With the high court appearance just a week away, DWP ministers announced they would rescind the decision and issue a new one, saying there was new evidence to consider.
The DWP agreed an out-of-court settlement with WASPI, agreeing to pay £180,000 towards the campaign’s legal costs and that they would issue a new decision within three months. This means ministers will have to set out their new decision by early March.
For the latest money saving tips, shopping and consumer news, go to the new Everything Money website.
