{"id":28973,"date":"2025-02-24T06:29:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T11:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=28973"},"modified":"2025-02-24T06:29:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T11:29:31","slug":"waspi-women-threaten-government-with-legal-action-over-refusal-to-pay-compensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2025\/02\/24\/waspi-women-threaten-government-with-legal-action-over-refusal-to-pay-compensation\/","title":{"rendered":"Waspi women threaten government with legal action over refusal to pay compensation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Campaigners have threatened the government with legal action unless it reconsiders the decision to refuse compensation to millions of women affected by an increase in the state pension age.<\/b><\/p>\n

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group is demanding payouts for 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed of changes first introduced in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

The government apologised that the changes were not communicated quickly enough but told the BBC it “cannot justify paying for a \u00a310.5bn compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer”.<\/p>\n

Waspi chair Angela Madden said: “We believe this is not only an outrage but legally wrong.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The “letter before action” that has been sent to the government is a formal mechanism to allow it a chance to respond before the campaigners seek a judicial review at the High Court in two weeks time.<\/p>\n

Last year the parliamentary ombudsman recommended payouts of up to \u00a32,950 each because of a 28-month\u00a0delay\u00a0in\u00a0writing\u00a0to\u00a0inform\u00a0the women affected of the changes.<\/p>\n

Waspi\u00a0campaigners\u00a0have\u00a0claimed\u00a0women\u00a0suffered\u00a0financial\u00a0hardship\u00a0and\u00a0had\u00a0to rethink\u00a0retirement\u00a0plans.<\/p>\n

However in December, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologised for the delayed communications but said there was “considerable awareness” of the changes to the pension age. She said sending letters earlier would not have made a difference to their ability to make retirement choices.<\/p>\n

Her claim there was no direct financial loss could now be examined in court if the campaigners get approval for their judicial review.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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