WASPI COMPENSATION ROW TAKES NEW TURN OVER £2,950 PAYOUTS 💷⚖️ The battle between Women Against State Pension Inequality and the Department for Work and Pensions has intensified after legal experts criticised the Government’s refusal to follow Ombudsman recommendations. With up to 3.6 million 1950s-born women affected, pressure is mounting on the Labour Party to rethink its stance.
WASPI women compensation twist in battle for £2,950 payouts from DWP
Government’s stance was SLAMMED by legal experts.
Government’s stance was SLAMMED by legal experts.
A twist in the WASPI fight for compensation from the Department for Work and Pensions has emerged – after the Labour Party government’s stance was SLAMMED by legal experts.
As many as 3.6 million women born in the 1950s are said to have lost out because of government failings in the way changes to the state pension age were made, prompting the launch in 2015 of the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign.
But despite an Ombudsman report suggesting state pensioners should be reimbursed to the tune of £2,950 following the DWP’s failings, the Labour Party government has so far resisted any suggestion it should compensate the women impacted.
Tax accountant Grace Hardy, from Hardy Accounting, said: “Whenever the state pension age changes for any one individual, proactive written notification should be mandatory well in advance, not dependent on people checking Government websites or seeing general media campaigns.
“The DWP knew exactly which cohorts would be affected and had their addresses; there was no technical barrier to writing to them.”
She said: “Changes of this magnitude should have a minimum notice period enshrined in legislation for perhaps 10 years to allow genuine financial planning.
“The 2011 acceleration of timetable for women, giving some affected women as little as 18 months’ additional notice, was the specific step the Ombudsman found most problematic.”
Speaking after Christmas, Angela Madden, the chair of WASPI, said the group was now taking legal advice and “all options remain on the table.
“We stand ready to pursue every avenue in parliament and in the courts to secure the justice that has been so shamefully denied.”
Mrs Madden added: “Ministers have demonstrated their utter contempt for 1950s-born women, for parliament and for the parliamentary ombudsman. The government has kicked the can down the road for months, only to arrive at exactly the same conclusion it has always wanted to.
“This is a disgraceful political choice by a small group of very powerful people who have decided the harm and injustice suffered by millions of ordinary women simply does not matter.”
