‘I’m a WASPI woman – heartbroken and out £35,000 after snub’ | Personal Finance | Finance

A WASPI woman has hit out at the government, saying its decision not to award compensation was “inconsolably heartbreaking” – and cost her £35,000.

Jenny Cox, 71, left home at 17 to work at two major companies for more than 20 years before working for her husband’s company. She then retrained as a psychotherapist and counselor and received a “very meager self-employed salary”.

Ms Cox was born in 1954 and is one of many who have called on women born in that decade to receive the money they feel is their due after not being properly informed of the age increase of their retirement from 60 to 65 years old to equalize. with men.

The £10 billion plea was rejected earlier this week by Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall. WASPI is an organization founded in 2015 which advocates for this approach.

Ms Cox, who is the wife of Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate earlier this year, and the founder of car campaign group FairFuelUK, Howard Cox, signed up on the group’s website and “advised them followed with avidity.

She added that the rejection made her feel like female claimants were seen as “subordinate to men.”

Ms Cox told Express.co.uk: “In 2001, aged 47, I was also diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. I didn’t have the option to reduce my hours, but it was good because I had worked for the required number of working hours years to qualify for the state pension.

“Besides, I would receive my state pension to help me deal with the financial implications of me stopping paid work, right?! That’s what I thought would happen. I had really wrong.”

She added: “I have always been meticulous in keeping records of all my financial affairs. I can categorically attest that I have never received any letters from the DWP regarding raising my pension age to 65/ 66 years old.

“I have been a planner, and the shock of finally realizing that I would not receive my state pension for six years sent me into a spiral of anger that significantly affected my health. But I continued to help my husband.”

Ms Cox also said: “When I learned that the compensation, recommended by the independent ombudsman, would not go ahead, I was beyond angry.

“It brought about all the injustices I had felt ten years earlier, when I reached 60, and which I had unwillingly launched into financial insecurity and uncertainty during my fragile final years .

“The WASPI campaign has been legitimately run for many years. It appears that a final breakthrough has been made at the end of the Conservative government and is being implemented in a positive way, with Labor in the pre-election campaign promising to provide us with our compensation.

“But their latest decision, now that they are in government, is inconsolably heartbreaking.

“I honestly believe this decision was made by very affluent, younger, opportunistic and clueless politicians (surprisingly women), now with undeserved government power and no real experience. The decision is unjustifiable, ageist and ill-informed.”

“If means testing is necessary then be honest and do it, but not just for those on pension credit. Like many others, I am £5 over the eligibility threshold. This is another deliberate and crude decision that plunges us into impoverishment.

“I calculated that I had missed out at least £35,000 some time ago. I wished the DWP would catch up and pay back for their mistake. Always with women! And always way too late.

“What is going on with women, Mr. DWP? In your eyes, we are subordinate to men. We are also entitled to the lives we have paid for for decades. In fact, my pension is lower by more £200 to my husband’s. How could you do this?

“Not only did it cost me thousands of dollars, but it didn’t allow me to dream of positive projects. My parents didn’t miraculously become younger and my mortgage couldn’t be repaid. At 70 , she still isn’t paid. Amazing, but I’m not unique.

“Personally I think the DWP should fully compensate every WASPI woman. They can get away with it, right, or is this another failure?

“They have already waited so long to pay, which is obviously deliberate, because they see that many of us are dead. They are changing the rules of the game again. This is disgusting behavior.

“They had every opportunity to assess the amounts to be repaid upon entering government, and paying should have been one of their first ‘hard choices’.

“When Labor was elected, I expected them to honor the independent recommendation to compensate us at least 10 percent of what we deserved. However, seeing how they operate so dishonestly, I do not I’m not surprised by their duplicity.”

Sir Keir Starmer insisted paying compensation was not affordable.

Asked by Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake whether rejecting the financial package was part of his “government of change” earlier this week, the Prime Minister described delays in communicating changes to the financial package as “unacceptable”. state pension age for women born in the 1950s. and criticized George Osborne’s decision to fast-track the scheme when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sir Keir added: “This is a serious problem. This is a complex question. As he knows, research shows that 90 percent of those affected were aware of the changes taking place.

“I’m afraid to say that taxpayers simply cannot afford the tens of billions of pounds in compensation when the evidence shows 90% of those affected knew about it. This is due to the state of our economy.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the media: “I understand that women affected by the pension age changes are disappointed by this decision, but we have looked carefully at the Ombudsman’s recommendations and they have said that around 90 per One hundred of the women knew that these measures were taken into account. changes were coming.

“And as chancellor, I must account for every penny taxpayers spend.

“And given that the vast majority of people were aware of these changes, I did not judge that it would be the best use of taxpayers’ money to pay an expensive compensation bill for something that most people knew it was happening.”