WASPI compensation latest as ombudsman says ‘we think it’s fair’

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has issued a new verdict on the compensation recommended for women affected by changes to the state pension age. It comes as the Department for Work and Pensions considers the ombudsman’s report.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, acting ombudsman at the PHSO, told the Work and Pensions Committee: “I recognize the impact on so many people and I recognize that WASPI women would have wanted a higher level of compensation.” The report had recommended level four compensation of £1,000-£2,950, although campaigners believe it should rise to level six of £10,000 or more.

Supporting the original recommendation, Ms Hilsenrath added: “We believe that the overall level four description of the impact on individual women was correct. And we also looked at the examples of cases that were cited in relation to both level four and higher levels, and we felt that those indicated to us quite clearly that they were level four cases.”

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Of the ombudsman’s duties, she said: “We are not a tribunal or a court and we will not award the kind of very high levels of compensation that you see in negligence cases. So it’s about looking at the context in which we operate in”.

WASPI President Angela Madden said: “Throughout our campaign we have tried to communicate and manage women’s expectations. We have a huge following on social media, we have members, we have a website. it is probably hundreds and hundreds of thousands of women and they expect compensation, but they expect compensation to match the injustice they have suffered.

“And I think if he does, they’ll be happy, if he doesn’t, then they won’t. So I think the level of compensation commensurate with maladministration is a bit lower and that needs to be considered further.”

Jane Cowley, WASPI campaign director, said: “In terms of the things we would like to see in a compensation scheme… we would like it to be quick because of the delays that have already occurred, we we want… something that can be set up in weeks, not years. It has to be very simple, very clear, easy to use.

“We can’t have a ‘one size fits all’, it has to take into account people’s different circumstances. Some women were given a year’s notice of a three-month increase in the state pension age. Other women were 18 years old. with six years’ notice of an increase in the state pension age.

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