DWP minister issues WASPI clarification as she says 'there is no compensation scheme'

A DWP minister has sent out a warning that there is no compensation scheme as it stands for WASPI women. Such women are fighting for payouts after changes to the state pension age hit them hard.

The government is under huge pressure to award compensation after an official report said such women had been given insufficient notice about changes to the system. But while these demands are being investigated, a minister has issued a reminder that for now, there is no compensation available.

The message was dispatched in the House of Lords after it emerged scammers were trying to lure women into signing up to bogus schemes to get compensation. It comes as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been ordered to "recognise the case for urgency" in responding to recommendations from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s (PHSO) for compensating 1950s-born women.

The PHSO published its report in March this year saying the women affected should get payouts of between £1,000 to £2,950 after the government increased the state pension age with insufficient notice. One group calling for compensation is the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign group, who held a protest outside Parliament last week on Budget day.

Lord Davies of Brixton warned his fellow peers in the House of Lords that the delay "is leaving the people affected prey to scammers, who are offering to assist them in making claims", adding that "this issue needs to be resolved as quickly as practical". The Labour peer further stated that the Ombudsman "made it clear that these women suffered from maladministration and that they are entitled to redress".

Baroness Sherlock, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the DWP, responded: "To be absolutely clear, because there has been no response to the report, there is no compensation scheme. Anyone claiming to offer it is scamming and nobody should touch it - please can that message go out loud and clear."

She added that the UK Government is "looking very closely at the findings of the ombudsman and will respond as soon as is practicable". The WASPI group issued a similar warning this summer when a "deeply concerning" surge in fraudulent compensation claim forms surfaced online.

WASPI warned that numerous unofficial websites had popped up, falsely claiming that those affected by abrupt State Pension age increases could claim up to £2,950, depending on their circumstances. Campaigners highlighted that these websites, seemingly originating from outside the UK, purported that the women could secure payouts by submitting compensation forms.

However, these are merely heartless criminals exploiting older individuals. The PHSO report published on March 21 stated that "Parliament must urgently identify a mechanism for providing that appropriate remedy" and recommended compensation equivalent to level four on its banding scale, which is worth between £1,000 and £2,950.

No compensation scheme has been announced to date, so any website offering help to claim is bogus and should be reported to Action Fraud. Also in recent days, Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds revealed that the DWP has been exploring the costs of establishing a compensation scheme for those affected.

In a written response, Ms Reynolds stated that as part of the DWP's investigation into the Ombudsman's report, it had discovered that the estimated cost of compensating all women at level four - between £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion - did not account for administrative costs. The Pensions Minister said: "As part of our work on the Ombudsman’s investigation and report, we have been considering the costs of setting up a compensation scheme. The Ombudsman used DWP’s broad estimates in their report published 21 March 2024, stating that ‘Compensating all women born in the 1950s at the level 4 range would involve spending between around £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion of public funds’. This estimate excludes administration costs."

Ms Reynolds added: "This Government is giving its full and proper consideration to all areas of the Ombudsman's report. Once this work has been undertaken, we will be in a position to outline our approach."