Waspi pension payouts boost
CAMPAIGNERS have taken a step forward in their efforts to secure higher compensation for the millions of women affected by a short-notice hike in the state pension age.
A report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman suggested payments of between £1,000 and £2,950, in line with Level 4 of its injustice scale.
But interim ombudsman Rebecca Hilsenrath has said some Waspi [Women Against State Pension Inequality] women could get above this.
She told MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee that findings were based on the sample cases dealt with.
Ms Hilsenrath added: “We did not find any incidence there of direct financial loss but we don’t exclude that possibly being the case.”
The Waspi Campaign fights for justice for all women born in the 1950s affected by changes to the State Pension Age. Some 3.6 million women expected to receive their state pension at 60, but waited five years. Waspi chair Angela Madden said she was pleased to hear the PHSO concede there could be a case for bigger compensation. She says the women should get Level 6 compensation, of £10,000 or more, due to suffering financial losses, telling the Daily Express: “There are women that we know have lost out financially.”
But Ms Hilsenrath warned there is a high threshold to qualify for the Level 6 compensation.
She told the MPs: “We look at Level 6 compensation under our health jurisdiction for potentially avoidable deaths.
“We’re not a tribunal or a court. We’re not going to award the high levels of compensation you see in negligence cases.”