Waspi women compensation rejected again by the government

Waspi women fighting against a decision to increase their state pension age by up to six years have had their case for compensation rejected again by the government.

The government looked again at the case after a new document came to light, but has still come to the conclusion no compensation should be paid, the BBC reports.

The Waspi group of women born in the 1950s have been fighting for 10 years for redress over what they say was a poorly communicated decision to raise their state pension age from 60 to 66 in order to equalise it with men.

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Around 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not made fully aware of the timing and nature of the increase in state pension age, campaigners say, leaving them unable to financially prepare.

Commenting on the government announcement today (29 January) reaffirming there will be no compensation scheme for Waspi women, Angela Madden, chair of Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), said ministers have demonstrated “utter contempt for 1950s-born women”.

“This is a disgraceful political choice by a small group of very powerful people who have decided the harm and injustice suffered by millions of ordinary women simply does not matter.

“The government has magically found billions to fund policies not made in their election manifesto, proving money can quickly become available when ministers consider something a priority.”

The group would be taking legal advice on the decision, she said.

Andrea Egan, general secretary of the Unison union, added: "This decision slams the door on justice for a generation of women who lost out through no fault of their own.

"They've had years of delays and false hope, but the government's chosen to stand by a flawed process rather than do the right thing.

"Tens of thousands of women had the rug pulled from beneath them. They had little notice of key changes to their pensions and no chance to plan.

"Many have been forced to work longer, burn through savings or deal with poverty in retirement.

"Ministers must urgently rethink this decision. By doing nothing they're deepening the sense of betrayal and alienating women who did everything asked of them.”

Unison will continue to support and fight for Waspi women to “ensure they get what's owing to them and for what they feel is a fair deal”, she added.

Why won’t the government compensate Waspi women?

The government is refusing to compensate 1950s-born women on the grounds, it says, most knew the state pension age was increasing from leaflets, education campaigns, notices in GP surgeries, on TV and radio, in cinemas, and online. This is something the Waspi women deny.

Furthermore, Pat McFadden, work and pensions secretary, told the House of Commons today that overall, the evidence suggests most of those women affected would not have read "an unsolicited pensions letter, even if it had been sent earlier".

He also said those who knew the least about pensions – "the very women who most needed to engage with a letter" – were the least likely to read it, according to Hansard, the parliamentary record.

Both points the Waspi women dispute.

In 2024, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 each for those women affected. This was subsequently rejected by the government. It said last year it would look again at the decision, but has again decided not to compensate.

McFadden said today the government accepted "individual letters about changes to the state pension age could have been sent earlier", for which he apologised, echoing his predecessor Liz Kendall. But he said the government also agreed with the Ombudsman's previous finding that "women did not suffer any direct financial loss from the delay".

A compensation scheme for those affected would "cost up to £10.3bn and would simply not be right or fair given it would be paid to the vast majority who were aware of the changes", he said.

Last year, the government apologised for a 28-month delay in sending letters about the change in women’s state pension age, but rejected any kind of financial payouts.

However at the time of that decision a relevant document was not shown to Liz Kendall, then work and pensions secretary. It had since come to light and needed to be considered, the government subsequently said.

Campaigners welcomed the move. However current pensions secretary McFadden told the Commons at that time reviewing the decision would not automatically lead to compensation for the 1950s-born women.

High court case

The plan had been, on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 December 2025, for the Waspi legal team to present its case for compensation to a senior High Court Judge.

Lawyers acting for the government would then have had the opportunity to set out their defence, before the court makes a final decision, which was expected in spring 2026. However this timeline was derailed by the government’s announcement last November it would review the case for compensation again.

An update on the Waspi group fundraising page in November stressed, however, that “the courts do not have the power to order ministers to compensate Waspi women”.

“However, if our case is successful, the judge will rule that none of the government's reasons for refusing compensation are rational and order them to go back to the drawing board,” it added.

The government will be serving hundreds – possibly thousands – of pages of material on the Waspi group’s lawyers in support of its defence along with ‘detailed grounds of resistance’ that explain that defence in full.

“This is a crucial stage in the litigation as our legal team will be scrutinising every page and preparing a response,” the Waspi group said, adding “as we mark 10 years of campaigning this month, we are more determined than ever to secure what we deserve. We are not going away!”

Cost capping order 'a major milestone'

Back in June Waspi women secured a legal safeguard in their fight against the government for compensation for the raising of their state pension age, as the High Court approved a limit on the campaign’s liability for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) defence costs.

The DWP has agreed to a costs capping order, protecting each side in the event they lose their legal fight over increases to the state pension age. The agreement limits Waspi liability for government legal costs to £60,000, and caps the government’s liability for Waspi legal costs at £90,000.

Waspi women have welcomed the news as a “major milestone” in their fight to secure a more favourable government response to the Ombudsman’s compensation proposals for 1950s-born women. However, campaigners stress the order does not reduce the actual legal costs of the case, which will be much higher.

Angela Madden, chair of Waspi, said at the time: “This agreement is a vital step forward in our legal campaign. Without this safeguard, we faced a real risk of financial ruin – of effectively being silenced by the threat of government legal bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“We now have the certainty we need to press on – but the costs of fighting this case remain very real. Our expert legal team is showing they can and do win victories against the government but it takes time and forensic presentation of our evidence – and that costs money.

“This is the fight of our lives – and we can’t win it without public support.”

Earlier in June, Justice Swift, a senior High Court judge ruled the Waspi case is “arguable” and “ought to be considered at a final hearing”, meaning ministers could be ordered to rethink their position on compensation if Waspi wins in court.

After years of campaigning by the Waspi group, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled in their favour last year and called for compensation to be paid to the women. However, so far, the government has failed to commit to paying out.

The current Waspi judicial review will examine the government’s rejection of the PHSO’s recommendations for compensation – despite ministers’ acceptance that maladministration had occurred.

A DWP spokesperson said: "We do not comment on live litigation. We have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women. However, we do not agree with the Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy and that is why we have decided not to pay compensation."

What is the Waspi campaign?

It’s been 10 years since the Waspi campaign group was set up to protest against the way changes to the state pension age were made.

From 2010 to 2018, the pension age for women gradually increased from 60 to 66, bringing it in line with men’s state pension age.

But the women affected by this - mainly those born in the 1950s - say the changes were implemented with little notice, leaving many in financial turmoil.

Waspi has repeatedly lobbied ministers, held protests, and even launched a judicial review over an ombudsman’s investigation into the way women were told about when they would receive their state pension. However, they have so far received no compensation.

The campaign group claims the “injustice” potentially affects 3.6 million women, and that since 2015, 380,000 Waspi women have died.

But could we see some progress this year? Last year an MP put forward a bill calling for a compensation scheme with payouts of at least £10,000 for affected women. But then there was a General Election. And when Labour got in, despite positive noises from Sir Keir Starmer in opposition, the government ruled out compensation. Hence Waspi women’s current legal fight with the DWP.

What caused the Waspi campaign?

Until 2010, women could claim their state pension from age 60, and men from 65.

The government announced that women's state pension age would be increased to match men's, and would therefore raise their age from 60 to 65 in stages, between April 2010 and 2020.

It then sped up those changes, so that by December 2018 the age at which you could first claim your state pension was 65 for men and women. By October 2020 it was 66.

As well as the changes happening quickly, Waspi says the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to communicate them properly, so some women were completely in the dark.

Many women made big life plans based on when they thought they were getting their state pension - which then proved to be wrong - leaving them in financial hardship as they waited extra years to receive their pension.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at the wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown, comments: “This is a very difficult situation in that equalising state pension age for men and women is the right thing to do but it’s fair to say that many women were taken unaware of the change. The way government chose to communicate these changes has been criticised as it left many women with very little time to prepare for what became a gaping hole in their finances.”

While many MPs have supported the Waspi campaign, ministers have repeatedly ruled out any concessions, such as compensation to bridge the gap between the change in their state pension age or a one-off payment.

The ombudsman’s investigation

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), an independent body that looks into complaints made to government departments or the NHS, investigated the way the pension age changes were introduced.

In 2021, during the early stages of its investigation, it said the DWP had “failed to make a reasonable decision about targeting information to the women affected by these changes. That was maladministration.” It also concluded the DWP had “failed to act promptly” to write to the women.

The PHSO finally concluded its investigation in March 2024 when it published a report finding the DWP guilty of “maladministration”. The ombudsman’s report found the DWP had failed to provide “accurate, adequate and timely information about areas of state pension reform”. It also stated its concern that the DWP did not acknowledge its failings or offer redress.

As such, the ombudsman has called on Parliament to secure funding for up to £10.5 billion. This would allow for a payout of between £1,000 and £2,950 for the women affected – though this is a far cry from the £10,000 some Waspi women were hoping for.

The PHSO said the DWP did not take action to ensure communications about the state pension age reached the right people, adding that a survey in 2006 showed that too many women still thought their state pension age was 60.

However, recommendations made by the ombudsman are not legally binding.