To date, nearly 4,600 complaints demanding fair state pension arrangements for women born during the 1950s have been received by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE), yet only six investigations have been concluded. Following the release of these figures and the continued public campaign by Waspi, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has now agreed to streamline the process which should significantly reduce the length of time it takes to resolve each case.
Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary at pensions specialist Quantum Advisory, says of the situation: “Waspi aims to address the claim that women born in the 1950s were given little or no notice that they would have to work an extra six years before receiving their State Pension. The group is asking for an interim pension to support them until they are in receipt of their delayed State Pension.
“With more than 3.5million women affected and 100,000 signatures on the most recent petition, Waspi are standing their ground and aren’t going to go away quietly – much to the government’s dismay. Although action has been taken by employing the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman, I believe more is required to resolve the situation once and for all, however, given the current economic climate, it is difficult to see just how the government will afford to do this. One possible compromise could be to pay these women a reduced pension from their earlier age, similar to what is carried out for early retirements from defined benefit pension schemes, which should broadly result in no additional cost for the government. However, it appears that the government has no appetite to resolve this situation at this point in time, which is not good news for those women impacted.”
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