Women Against State Pension Injustice (WASPI) have hit out at the DWP’s Pension Credit drive as older Britons are set to lose their £300 Winter Fuel Payment benefit.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is campaigning to raise awareness of the benefit as hundreds of thousands are thought to be missing out.
Claiming Pension Credit will re-grant people access to the Winter Fuel Payment, which is worth up to £300 to go towards heating bills.
Pension Credit works to “top-up” people’s state pension to a more reasonable living standard, and is worth around £3,900 a year on average.
But as the awareness drive kickstarts this week, Angela Madden, the chair of WASPI, said: “No amount of ‘drives’ to take up Pension Credit can substitute for a proper resolution to the injustice meted out to Waspi women.
“We need to see equal drive in Government to understand and implement the recommendations both of the independent parliamentary ombudsman and the cross-party pensions select committee.”
WASPI women campaign against the changes to the state pension age that they believe unfairly impact women born in the 1950s.
In new developments this year, a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found these women may be eligible for compensation ranging from £1,000 to £2,950 at Level Four.
The campaigners hope to get much more, with the Ombudsman’s top level of compensation at £10,000 or more.
WASPI are due to attend two party conferences in September to renew their calls for compensation.
Ms Madden stated they plan to attend both the Liberal Democrat and Labour conferences to engage with more MPs and Labour supporters.
She emphasised that the best way to persuade Labour MPs who currently don’t support the cause is for constituents to reach out and urge their MPs to represent WASPI women.
Ms Madden said: “What we’re hoping for is it’s the start of a productive conversation that will lead to our position being fully understood.”
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