State pension age rises

The age at which you can collect your state pension has risen to 66 this week for both men and women.

The qualifying age has already risen for women – up from 60 to 65 for women born after March 1950 – and is set to rise further – to 67 by 2028 and to 68 between 2044 and 2046 in response to increased longevity.

Women who have been affected by the rise in the state pension age to 65 have been campaigning against it.  The High Court ruled that the change and the way it was done was not discriminatory.

In September, an appeal brought by the group Back to 60 was dismissed. Another group, the Women Against State Pension Inequality [WASPI] has taken a different approach. It is campaigning for what it says are fair transitional arrangements for all women born in the 1950s, who are affected by the changes.  It claims insufficient notice was given for the changes and women were simply not properly informed. It accepts equalisation of the age of retirement with men, but argues that the way it was implemented “has caused extreme hardship and wrecked the retirement plans of 3.8 million women”.

WASPI has been campaigning for a compensation payment in the form of a bridging pension based on a claim of maladministration by the Department for Work and Pensions.  It says the Back to 60 court action delayed the claims process by 12 months, but that six sample cases are now being investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Ex Pensions Minister Ros Altmann has recently written in support of the WASPI claims of maladministration by the DWP.

The state pension varies according to National Insurance contributions paid over a person’s lifetime, but is currently worth £175.20 per week for those receiving the full amount.  Workers can continue to work full or part time for as long as they wish.

For more information on how to claim, click here. For information on how part-time working affects pensions and on pension credit, click here. Read Professor David Blane’s article on what employers can do to mitigate the rise in the state pension age.

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