On 29 January 2026 the government decided against financial compensation for women affected by the delay in sending out State Pension age letters. The Ombudsman had found a 28-month delay and said it would have recommended compensation of £1,000 to £2,950 for each of its 6 sample complainants. The government accepted the delay and said it was sorry.
Key points
✓The decision affects women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1960, an estimated 3.5 million women.
✓The government said a compensation scheme is neither fair nor feasible, so one will not be set up.
✓The Ombudsman did not find that the complainants had suffered direct financial loss, and the government agreed.
✓The 29 January 2026 response replaces the part of the December 2024 response about State Pension age communications.
Will WASPI women get compensation?
Not under the current decision. The government has decided against introducing financial compensation for women affected by the delay in sending out State Pension age letters, and said that introducing a scheme would not represent good value for taxpayers.
It also decided that the 6 sample complainants in the Ombudsman's investigation will not get a financial remedy, because there will be no scheme for 1950s-born women. It said the evidence is clear that the majority of 1950s-born women knew that State Pension age was changing.
What did the Ombudsman find?
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that between 1995 and 2004, DWP's communication of the changes reflected the expected standards. It found maladministration in 2 respects, which together led to a 28-month delay in beginning to write directly to women affected by the 1995 Pensions Act.
What the Ombudsman found
When
DWP failed to take adequate account of the need for targeted and individually tailored information
August 2005
DWP did not act promptly enough on a proposal to write directly to affected women
Proposed November 2006, not progressed until December 2007
The Ombudsman said the delay cost the complainants opportunities to make informed decisions and diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control. It said it would have recommended compensation at level 4, which is £1,000 to £2,950, for all 6 sample complainants.
How did State Pension age change for women?
From the 1940s the State Pension age was 60 for women and 65 for men. These Acts changed it.
Law
What it did
Pensions Act 1995
Increased women's State Pension age from 60 to 65 over the 10-year period from April 2010
Pensions Act 2007
Set out a schedule to increase State Pension age for women and men to 66, 67 and 68 over successive 10-year periods starting in 2024
Pensions Act 2011
Brought the changes forward, so women's State Pension age reached 65 in November 2018 and the increase to 66 for both men and women was completed by October 2020
Our guide to State Pension age explains the age that applies to you now and the next rises.
Why did the government make a new decision?
In March 2025 a legal challenge was brought against the government's previous decision, and in October 2025 it was amended to refer to a 2007 DWP research report that had not been considered in December 2024. On 11 November 2025 the Secretary of State committed to make a new decision on State Pension age communications.
The new decision was announced on 29 January 2026. It accepts that decisions between August 2005 and December 2007 caused a 28-month delay, but does not accept the Ombudsman's approach to injustice, saying that for a majority of 1950s-born women an earlier letter would not have influenced the choices they could or would have made.
The other issues in the December 2024 response, including new State Pension qualifying years and DWP complaint handling, are unchanged.
What can 1950s-born women check now?
DWP has published an action plan setting out how it will learn lessons from the Ombudsman's report. All 1950s-born women will have reached State Pension age by 5 April 2026, so the useful checks now are whether you are getting the right amount and any help on top.
Know Your Rights UK. "WASPI Compensation: The Government's Decision Explained." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/benefits/state-pension/waspi