Bad News For Waspi Women

[barry1010]

The Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman recommended compensatary payouts to the women affected by the changes in pension - the government and DWP have decided to ignore it.

What is the point of the Ombudsman if the governing bodies can choose to ignore them?

Sad day for many women

 

[jackthehat]

Ah, well......they're only women.... it's not as if it really matters....🙄

1. Shameful decision to move the retirement age without sufficient notification.

2. Shameful decision to ignore the Ombudsman.

 

[Atheist]

I think the Ombudsman is not an elected body, and so I suppose that the ultimate voice would be the govt.

[naomi24]

This government is riding roughshod over everyone and doing just as it pleases.

[bhg481]

For only the third time in my 60 years of voting I have written to my MP, this time to tell her she should be ashamed to associate herself with a party of liars and pensioner haters.

[barry1010]

I didn't vote Labour but wasn't particularly angry when they won, despite remembering previous Labour governments very well.

Now I am not only angry, I am very disappointed and saddened at what is happening 

[pastafreak]

I just saw the headline elsewhere...really shameful. I hope those women let it be known just how p****d off they are...loudly.

[ubasses]

Something any  WASPI on here won't be pleased to hear. I was born at the same time as them.  I knew from day one what was going to happen, it was all over the newspapers, and news. Had plenty of time to work out whether I needed to take any action or not.

I just can't believe it was a shock to so many when the letters arrived.

 

[barry1010]

Ubssses, some women didn't get any letters.

[naomi24]

This government has no opposition.  They are doing - and will do - exactly as they like - regardless of the harm done.  That they have so much power is frightening.

[newmodarmy]

I've never fully understood the case. I think part of the problem is that the retirement age for women should not have been so low for so long... the equalisation should have started earlier, so the increase in retiremnet age when it happened was bigger for women than men. I've looked previously at the notice they were given and like ubasses wasn't convinced it was as unreasonable as some were suggesting, but i noted Martin Lewis seemed  to think they were badly treated and I usually agree with his views on things, and the Ombudsman supported them too. I don;t always agree with ML and the ombudsman though- for example on PPI andcarfinance misselling. 

  I should look again at what their case was.

[newmodarmy]

To be fair to Labour, my guess is the Tories wouldn't have agreed to it either or would have stalled, just like the delays on infected blood or Horizon compensation and something about some war veterans 

[ubasses]

Barry, I cannot believe they never saw a newspaper or watched /listened to the news. All the info was out there for all to see/hear.

[jackthehat]

///....who brought test cases should receive between £1,000 and £2,950 compensation for maladministration as a result of the Department for Work and Pensions' failure to heed its own research showing that public campaigns were not reaching enough affected women, and found that individual letters should have been sent by it to affected women between 2007 and 2012. ///

This illustrates that far fewer women were aware of the changes than should have been.

[Clone]

'fair solution' Liz?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GfAKvMSXoAA9v8W?format=jpg&name=medium

[newmodarmy]

I'm just trying to understand the issue here. What specific action would these women have taken to change their retirement plans if they had been notified earlier. Can someone give a hypothetical (or actual) example of someone who didn't get as much notuice as they'd have needed.

 

[newmodarmy]

I do agree that indicidual letters should have been sent out, if only to avoid a situation where people pretend they weren't made aware, but also because some genuinely weren't aware or wouldn't know what options they had such as paying missing NI years

[newmodarmy]

^indiVidual not indicidual

[Boto]

I came under the increase in retirement age just like Waspi women.  I can't remember if I received a letter or not but I read the papers and listen to the news so I knew what was happening.     

[Old_Geezer]

As I understand it the Ombudsman's opinion isn't binding. It has to be accepted by both parties or it ain't worth the paper it's written on. A bit like UK referendums between parliament and the people.

[rowanwitch]

My letter said, 'it is expected that the pension age for women will be increased over the next few years....' Not by how much, no specific timescale, union rep said likely from 60 to 63, not to 66 as it actually ended up.  I had already committed to retiring at 55 knowing I could manage with my lump sum supplementing my reduced pension to around 63 ,  instead I found myself having to rely on handouts from family and selling possessions for three very long years. I would have tried to find work but by that time I was disabled and effectively unemployable.