Women whose state pension age increased without adequate warning should be compensated by the Government, according to a landmark Ombudsman judgement published today.
The final part of the Parliamentary and Health Services report called for the Department of Work and Pensions to pay compensation, and apologise for its administrative failures.
Publishing the 100 page report the PHSO chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath says: “The UK’s national ombudsman has made a finding of failings by the Department for Work and Pensions in this case and has ruled that the women affected are owed compensation.
“DWP has clearly indicated that it will refuse to comply. This is unacceptable. The Department must do the right thing and it must be held to account for failure to do so.”
The issue concerns a cohort of women born in the 1950s who saw their state pension age rise from 60 to 66 — but argue that they were given insufficient notice or warning of this change. These women have been calling for compensation for over a decade, under the ‘women against state pension increases’ (Waspi) campaign. It is estimated that as many as 4m could be affected.
The Ombudsman report suggests that compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 should be paid to these women.
The report called for action from Parliament to ensure compensation is paid, saying it is concerned that the DWP is not addressing this issue.
The report adds: “Given the significant concerns we have that it will fail to act on our findings and given the need to make things right for the affected women as soon as possible, we have proactively asked Parliament to intervene and hold the department to account.
“Parliament now needs to act swiftly, and make sure a compensation scheme is established. We think this will provide women with the quickest route to remedy.”
Previous reports from the Ombudsman found the DWP guilty of maladministration relating to the way it handled these changes, particularly in relation to communications between 2005 and 2006.
This latest report says that these communication failures meant women lost opportunities to make information decisions or put in place place alternative arrangements, potentially throwing retirement plans into disarray.
The Ombudsman report also said that complaints “weren’t adequately handled” by the DWP, who did not investigate or respond in many cases. It says this maladministration and poor complaints handling caused unnecessary stress and anxiety for those women affected.
Women’s pension age move from 60 to 65 in incremental stages from 2010 to 2018. It was then, with men, increased from 65 to 66 by 2020 and then will rise from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
There are plans for the State Pension Age to rise again to 68 between 2044 and 2046, but the government has been consulting on whether to move this latest rise forward.