Martin Lewis addressed the state pension age changes for 1950s-born women on his ITV show tonight, saying the campaign has been going on for a long time. He called for compensation for women affected by the issue and he had “supported” their efforts.
Have you been affected by the changes to state pension age? If you would like to share your story, please email personal.finance@reachplc.com.
The issue occurred when the state pension age for women was increased under the Pensions Act 1995 and Pensions Act 2011, from 60 to 65, bringing it in line with the state pension age for men.
During the show, Mr Lewis thanked “all the WASPI and over 60s women who got in touch with this”.
He said: “It all happened because in 1995 the pension age was extended and it wasn’t communicated and then it was extended again and it wasn’t communicated.
“There’s been a court case that was lost. There’s been a parliamentary ombudsman ruling won but we don’t know the result.”
Mr Lewis went on to point out that one of his panellists, Sir Steve Webb, was a former Minister for Pensions.
He said: “Steve Webb used to be minister for pensions under the coalition government and you were minister when one of those ages was increased. Did you get it wrong?”
Sir Steve replied: “I don’t think we got it wrong but what happened before that, which the ombudsman found, was the previous government knew that women didn’t know. That was the issue.
“The equalisation was the right thing to do, have men and women at the same age, but you have to tell people.
“And what the ombudsman found was that when the government that I was part of raised the pension age a bit further, we wrote to millions of people – and I know because we had a lot of replies.”
He added: “But what didn’t happen was earlier on, those letters never got sent and that’s why so many women didn’t know.”
Mr Lewis went on to ask the state pension expert whether it was likely the women affected would get compensation.
Sir Steve, who is no longer in Government, said: “The rumours are tiny bits of compensation but not the tens of thousands people have lost.”
Mr Lewis added that while it was “more of a political” issue than a practical question he could answer, he did want to mention the matter.
A DWP spokesperson has previously said: “The Government decided over 25 years ago it was going to make the state pension age the same for men and women.
“Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have supported the actions of the DWP under successive governments dating back to 1995 and the Supreme Court refused the claimants permission to appeal.
“The Government is required by law to regularly review the State Pension age, the second of which will be published later this year.”
What is the UK state pension age?
The UK state pension age is currently 66, however, it is due to rise again.
The state pension age for both men and women will increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
Under the Pensions Act 2007, it is then set to rise from 67 to 68 between 2044 and 2046, however, this could change.
A review into plans to change the state pension age is due to be published in early 2023.
The Martin Lewis Money Show continues on Tuesday on ITV at 8pm.
