Rather late in the day the Department for Work and Pensions has requested personal documents from the six ” test case” complainants representing 3.5 million 50s born pensioners seeking compensation for maladministration.
This is the latest twist in the long running saga of the 50swomen fight for compensation which has taken seven years without a penny being paid out.
Having been contacted by some of the six women who are puzzled why the DWP should want such information and are not getting any adequate explanation from the DWP or the Ombudsman’s office. The request has come from the Parliamentary Ombudsman who is seeking their permission to hand over files that contain the personal information. The six are not supposed to confer with each other.
They have good reason to be puzzled. For the confidential submission to the Ombudsman from the DWP says the ministry has already decided to give them nothing. A section of their long submission addresses the problem that if it decided they should have some money why they don’t qualify for any financial redress. It goes through each case and tries to demolish the grounds under the partial maladministration found by the Ombudsman for the women to get anything. The documents it is seeking only apply to the partial maladministration found by the Ombudsman covering some 28 months Rob Behrens decided the ministry should have informed the women. So the Ombudsman will not pass to the DWP the full documentation from those who wanted the maladministration to cover the whole period after the 1995 Pensions Act was passed.
The confidential submission from the DWP does not accept that any of the six complainants are entitled to compensation. It rejects blanket payments to all saying ” we struggle to see how a uniform approach to the level of compensation has any validity when the individual situation of the complainants are all very different.”
It goes on to demolish claims of ill health, lack of money and financial loss are anything to do with the time the complainant received notice of the delay in their pension, blaming other factors for their distress.
It blames three of the complainants for not taking enough action to sort out their finances. It accuses two of them who said they would have kept working if they had known about the delay earlier, of failing to find jobs once they knew.
“It is very difficult to conclude that these complainants missed an opportunity to improve their financial situation because they did not take the action they claim they would have taken.”
It also rejects claims of ill health were caused by the delay in finding out that the pension age was going to rise.
“Four complainants described physical symptoms they attributed to their financial position. Several of the complainants were in difficult financial positions regardless of their not knowing about the increase to State Pension age.”
The final conclusion is: ”it is clear that the complainants simply needed to undertake more research in preparation for their retirement, especially considering that four of the sample group took early retirement and have not provided any evidence that they had conducted any research or retirement planning prior to making their decisions(Retirement years: 2010, 2006, 2005 & 2009). If they had requested a forecast and
planned, they would have had plenty of time to react instead of retiring.”
Table in DWP submission suggests Ombudsman was asking for very little compensation anyway
The report also includes a table which seems to suggest – before the Ombudsman made his provisional decision to make no awards for compensation but to leave it to Parliament- that the levels of compensation would be low- a maximum if £450 and in some cases nothing.
As for personal details the DWP submission already contains an annexe with a lot of personal details of the six complainants which makes it all the more confusing why it should want more. I am not publishing the details to protect their privacy.
It strikes me that people need to question more why this extra information is needed when the department has so much already.
It must be coincidence that this request has come at the same time as Mel Stride, the works and pensions secretary, is facing litigation from CEDAWinLAW, a campaigning group for women, calling for mediation with the DWP to end this long saga.
It is time the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the DWP were more open about their agenda rather than hiding behind obfuscation and secrecy. I seem to be the only person probing what is going on.
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Hi. When all WASPI – Gate started in 2015 I realised that I would not be getting my state pension at age 60, and would therefore depend on my husband for income until 201. This put a strain on us financially as I was unable to find suitable work to tide us over until then due to ill health. I had no occupational pension because I had given up work for over a decade to bring up 2 children, and when returning to full time work did not consider that taking a pension out then would be of much benefit.
I wrote to the DWP enclosing all the necessary information. They wrote back confirming that DWP has no intention of reimbursing any pensions as they had informed us adequately of the change in age. I received nothing from them, saw nothing in newspapers or TV adverts so was unprepared for such a change in my circumstances.
They will not pay WASPI women unless forced to by law.
Regards,
V Gillgrass
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They have no intention of giving us compensation , I never received any letter whatsoever, im 68 born in 1955. I’ve struggled financially especially in 2018 ,2019 when I was forced to go to food banks to survive with the added pressure by the DWP saying I had to daily look for a job and prove it on universal credit journals. Im divorced and got no money from my ex husband. The whole fiasco effected my mental and physical health I now have a serious heart condition and severe arthritis I struggle everyday , I dont have any faith in the UK government anymore,so corrupt, stealing from pensioners who are vulnerable citizens, I e worked Since I was 14 years old and this is how we e been treated, I’ve lost a whole 6 years of my pension…
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Exactly, why is Mr Hencke the only truly investigative and exposing journalist? A: because mainstream media are all puppets of the state.
If you want to eliminate corruption in a society, the most effective way to do it is not to punish people at the bottom, but those at the top. Here in grubby UK, we reward the corrupt at the top with promotion, bonuses and 6-figure salaries. NHS Trusts, for example, are run like the mafia and use public money to deceive, control, bully & protect their own interests, while patient continue to die. In return they are protected by the system including the courts. It’s open corruption:
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I distinctly remember the announcement in the 1995 budget to extend the retirement for women by two years. I was 39. I remember thinking I can understand the need for equality and was prepared to arrange for my retirement to start at 62. I was never aware of any further increases to the retirement age for women until I received a letter from DWP in 2013. My beef is with the complete obvious discrimination that has taken place against a specific and targeted group of women. As much as I totally empathise with the women who never received a letter or were made aware from any source of the changes. I am not suprised the Ombudsman has taken the view he has. If we want fair and legal justice then the only avenue to obtain this that is likely to get this is by the actions of CEDaW recently who have proven discrimination took place. Margaret Thatcher signed us up as members to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women so I can’t see how DWP or the government can weedle out of that! I say we would be better to get behind this campaign as much as we are able as it’s our only hope. After the infamous Michael Mansfield KC and his team were unable to get anywhere with the claim of maladministration
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David you do an excellent job in reporting the facts on this 50’s women’s pension issue. Another public injustice. This should have a TV program made about it. Just imagine the impact. They did this once and got away with it! Who will they go after next! All working people of the younger generation are affected
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64-year-old single working woman here – I continue to be muddled and befuddled by this whole scenario. I don’t understand why we split up into two groups to fight this. I don’t have the strength or time (still working full-time to survive and single) to join in, but have contributed what I can, when possible, to the funds requested. All I know is that I am exhausted. Since the age of 60, when I had fully expected to retire, at the retirement age contracted when I started work, I have had to continue full-time work. I have also lost my father, had cancer with major surgery, a hip replacement and continued mental health problems. My stress, depression and anxiety is down to having to continue to work in a low-paid job, a tired body and mind and constant money worries. What I want is to be paid the retirement money I am owed from age 60 until now. If I have to continue until 66, the government will owe me in the region of £50,000 and I want and need it NOW.
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Thank you all so much for all your hard work.
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If I was one of those six claimants, I would tell the DWP and the useless Ombudsman where to go!
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Ombudsman’s office DWP run this office at parliament hmm like cab having being paid by DWP Cardiff makes you think justice hay for the claiments
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I left work at 59 due to ill, health, I worked in a hotel for 12 years with ongoing authorities, I was expecting my pension at 60, so i looked after my grandson , who is now 14, I had depression for many years, struggling to pay for basic shopping , my husband is self employed, and we didn’t have much money to live on , Always putting my grandson’s needs first, We are now both getting our pensions, But the house is desperate for jobs doing. I did not get any notice of a pension age rise. Lynne
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The DWP and the Ombudsman have become fascistic tools for the government, who have a vicious and hateful opinion of anyone not wealthy enough to live life without some kind of financial support. This is just one case of such disdain for the poorest and for the most vulnerable of people in society, where just 5% of people rake in 95% of the world’s wealth.
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Pingback: The Post Office scandal – an everyday British corruption. – phsothetruestory
Once again, it appears that the Ombudsman has lost all sight of the fact that he should be a consumer watchdog not a toothless DWP lapdog. The Ombudsman services are failing at all levels and are no longer ‘fit for pupose’ (if they ever were). They should urgently be replaced by an effective independent service – all the more essential in Broken Britain where the poor become progressively more downtrodden. This matter is a bigger scandal, more widespread miscarriage of justice, than the outrageous Post Office Fiasco.
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It’s patently obvious to me as to why the DWP wants personel documents from the ‘6’. The DWP have been exposed by them so their best defence is to go legally after the complainents. The DWP are probably putting together a spurious case that leans towards fraud, lies and medical tape. If I was any of the 6 I would seek immediate legal advice. If any have, and I doubt it applies, any skeletons in their cupboard, come clean now before any evidence or innuendo is presented in a court of law.
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