WASPI compensation hotspots with highest numbers of women due up to £10.8bn

The areas of the UK with the highest numbers of WASPI women set for payouts over State Pension changes have come to light as further parliamentary debate is due on the issue this week. The State Pension Age (Compensation) Bill will have its second reading this Friday, April 19.

Alan Brown, Scottish National Party MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, brought the new private member's bill to the House of Commons in February to require the Work and Pensions Secretary to publish proposals for a compensation scheme.

An estimated 3.6 million women born in the 1950s discovered their retirement age had been delayed by up to six years. The 1995 Conservative Government's State Pension Act increased the State Pension age for women from 60 to 65 so that it was the same as that for men and then the 2011 Pension Act put up the State Pension age to 66 for both sexes.

WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) has been campaigning for nine years to get justice. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to provide adequate communication on the changes to women's State Pension age and that those affected are owed compensation.

READ MORE:

• 315,000 WASPI women in West Midlands due £930m compensation in pension ruling

• WASPI confirms key dates of birth for women to get DWP compensation

The ombudsman recommended that the women should receive an apology and compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950. If the ombudsman's recommendations are accepted, that could mean a bill to the taxpayer for compensation of between £3.6 billion and £10.8 billion.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said there would be "no undue delay" in considering the report but has so far refused to give a timescale or any hint on whether a decision would be made before the general election. You can find out more about the latest DWP news including pension and benefit updates and changes in our Money Saving Newsletter.

Below we've compiled the top 10 parliamentary constituencies in the UK with the highest number of WASPI women in the population who would be due compensation:

• Isle of Wight 10,950

• Louth and Horncastle (Lincs) 8,640

• Torridge and West Devon 8,440

• Suffolk Coastal 8,230

• West Dorset 8,150

• Bexhill and Battle (East Sussex) 8,130

• Folkestone and Hythe (Kent) 8,070

• Bridgwater and West Somerset 8,050

• Somerton and Frome 8,000

• Chichester (West Sussex) 8,000

See how many WASPI women live near you and how much they could receive in compensation with the interactive map below:

Alan Brown, the MP championing the State Pension Age (Compensation) Bill set for its second reading on Friday, expressed his views to fellow MPs in February, saying: "Like so many injustices created by Westminster, the lack of resolution for the 3.8 million WASPI women is a disgrace.

"Those 3.8 million women were given the bombshell that their State Pension age was going to increase from 60 to 66 just as they were about to retire and it was too late to do any proper financial planning. Many were already in ill health or worse, and others had taken early retirement and were planning to get by until age 60 when they thought they would receive their State Pension.

"For nine years, this place has debated the matter, hearing harrowing individual stories, with many MPs, from across the Chamber, pledging they would do all they could to help those women. But for nine years the Government have ignored the plight of those women. They hoped the WASPI women would go away, but they have not, although, unfortunately, 40,000 are dying each year without getting any form of compensation, with some 240,000 having already, tragically, passed away without receiving compensation.

"For those now trying to make the best of their retirement, while facing a cost of living crisis, polling has established that half of WASPI women have struggled to pay essential bills in the past six months and, worse, a quarter have struggled to buy food. We know that this is an injustice; indeed, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman judged as far back as July 2021 that the Department for Work and Pensions was guilty of maladministration due to lack of direct communication. Yet here we are, still fighting for compensation."

He added: "The purpose of this Bill is to bring forward parliamentary intervention to stop those affected women having to wait any longer. Fair and fast compensation is the simple scheme that the WASPI women are looking for, using, as a minimum, level 5 of the ombudsman scale - realistically, however, level 6 of the PHSO bandings is the most appropriate - and this Bill could deliver a simple framework.

"We are talking about a practical resolution, one that does not result in astronomical sums per person. It is not asking for a reversal of pension age to 60, and it is not a full restitution of pensions for those affected by the maladministration - no matter how nice an outcome that would be. The WASPI women understand there is no blank cheque from the Treasury; they are practical and they want to get on. That said, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the UK Government have saved £200 billion from the decision to equalise the State Pension age at 66."

Level 5 compensation would mean £3,000-£9,950 while level 6 would be the maximum of £10,000 or more, awarded for "profound, devastating or irreversible impacts on the person affected." The ombudsman's guidance says this includes circumstances where the individual may be affected permanently, or where recovery is likely to take several years, and cases involving an avoidable death. It would also cover circumstances where a reduced quality of life has been endured for a considerable period.

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