Thousands of women born in the 1950s could get compensation after the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman urged government to 'do the right thing'.
Ministers are facing demands for a huge payout to so-called 'WASPI' women today after a watchdog found they were not told about changes to state pension age.
PHSO chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said: 'The UK's national ombudsman has made a finding of failings by DWP in this case, and has ruled that the women affected are owed compensation. The 1995 Pensions Act and subsequent legislation raised the state pension age for women born on or after April 6 1950.
The DWP's handling of the pension age changes meant some women lost opportunities to make informed decisions about their finances. It diminished their sense of personal autonomy and financial control, the ombudsman said. WASPI Coordinator Debbie De Spon told Times Radio that hundreds of thousands of women had already died waiting for compensation.'There's a Waspi woman dying every 13 minutes. Over 270,000 WASPI women have died waiting for compensation. It's a historic injustice. And like the other injustices that are all waiting for to be rectified, we think we're well up in that queue of people.
Tory MP Peter Aldous, vice-chairman of the State Pension Inequality for Women All-Party Parliamentary Group said 'compensation in line with Category 6 injustice must be agreed by Parliament'.Mr Aldous said: 'These millions of women worked, cared for families, and supported communities all their lives. They deserve the dignity of fast compensation.
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