Redress of between £500 and £3,000 for WASPI women, as recommended by the Ombudsman in its report today, would cost the DWP between £3.5bn and £10.5bn according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
A report published today by the Ombudsman has found that thousands of women may have been affected by the DWP’s failure to adequately inform them that the State Pension age had changed.
The DWP is not legally obliged to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said despite the appearance of victory, many WASPI campaigners may be disappointed.
She said: “It’s important to say DWP is not legally obliged to carry out these recommendations and the Ombudsman expects it to be highly resistant to doing so. This is why it is taking the extraordinary action of asking Parliament to intervene and identify a way to provide compensation. It’s likely we will see this saga continue to rumble on.
“Its recommendations could see women compensated up to £2,950 which is a decent amount but far lower than some of the sums reported. With this in mind it is likely that many affected women will continue to feel short changed.”
Former Pensions Minister and partner at LCP Steve Webb said the DWP would be wise to establish a redress scheme ASAP.
He said: “If DWP refuses to accept the Ombudsman’s recommendation and refuses to establish a redress scheme, there is no chance that this position will hold. Particularly during an election year, the Government will struggle to secure a majority for ignoring the Ombudsman’s report. Instead DWP should respect the Ombudsman’s conclusions, which have been carefully considered over many years, and should come up with a redress scheme for their failure to notify women of sometimes life-changing increases in their state pension age.”
Former Pensions Minister and industry expert Ros Altmann called on Parliament to take direct responsibility for what happens next.
She said: “What happens next is entirely up to Parliament and I hope there will be swift action. The first important matter is for the DWP to own up to its errors, issue an apology and ensure it has processes to avoid this happening again.
“Then Parliament must decide what, if any, blanket compensation is offered and whether there will be a scheme that those worst affected can claim from on a case by case basis. But I am afraid the WASPI campaigners who hoped for many thousands of pounds for each of the 1950s-born women, are going to be disappointed.
“Whatever is done, though, needs to happen swiftly, to end this ongoing saga that has caused so much misery.”
