Women 'fighting on' for pension age compensation

Three women from North Lincolnshire say they are "fighting on" to receive compensation for pension age changes.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign group said women were not told properly that their state pension age would rise from 60 to 65 (now 66).

On 17 December last year, the government said it would not pay up to £3,000 in compensation that was recommended by a parliamentary ombudsman in March.

Speaking in December Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer said the taxpayer "simply can't afford the burden of tens of billions of pounds of compensation" but added he understood the WASPI group would feel let down.

Rosemary Jordan, Angie Hall and Yvonne Worboys are members of the North Lincolnshire WASPI group, one of the original campaign groups hoping to convince ministers into a U-turn.

The WASPI campaign estimate 3.6 million women lost out financially because the government did not adequately communicate the changes in the state pension age over a number of years, meaning people could not properly plan for their retirement.

They have been asking for compensation, saying many women were forced to work up to six years longer than expected or face financial hardship in older age.

Speaking to the BBC in December, chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "We looked in full at the ombudsman recommendation and they said around 90% of women did know these changes were coming.

"Given the vast majority of people did know about these changes, I didn't judge that it would be the best use of taxpayer's money to pay an expensive compensation bill for something that most people knew was happening."

Ms Jordan said: "It's not what the government has done, it's how it's been done.

"There has been a lack of an awareness for people of when their pension age would move.

"When it came to the crunch of having the opportunity to do something, they chose to do nothing.

Ms Hall said: "We've given our lives supporting the country through tax and national insurance, brought up families and looked after ageing parents and this is the thanks we get.

"It's absolutely disgusting, I feel like moving to Spain to be honest."

Ms Worboys added: "To me it feels as if they're waiting for us to die because they don't want to pay us out."

Despite the setback, Ms Jordan said they "just hope someone will actually listen to us at some point".

Ms Hall added: "The WASPI campaign goes on and we are fighting on."

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.