‘I’m a Waspi woman losing pension credit – my blood is boiling’ ...Middle East

A grandmother whose state pension age went up with no warning has expressed her fury as she now faces losing her pension credit.

Jenny Johnson, 71, who lives in Peterlee, County Durham, has criticised the Government for “attacking” pensioners as she believes they are viewed as an “easy target.”

Ms Johnson, who is a mother-of-three and a grandmother-of-four, is one of an estimated 3.8 million Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) women affected by major changes to the state pension age.

Due to the personal allowance threshold for income tax being frozen for several years and the 4.1 per cent increase in state pensions, which will take effect from 6 April, it will mean she will lose her pension credit and be worse off.

“It makes a mockery of them giving a rise with the state pension,” she said. “By getting a rise of £8 a week, I will lose pension credit and lose £100 a month.

“I have worked it out and it looks like the rise in state pension will put me about £4 over the threshold for pension credit, and because of that, I’ll lose pension credit. All because they have frozen the thresholds.”

Pension credit is a means-tested benefit and provides extra money to those over state pension age and on a low income to help with living costs.

People claiming pension credit can get help with other benefits too, such as winter fuel payment, council tax and free NHS dental treatment.

Ms Johnson told The i Paper she now fears she will lose out on another £30 or £40 a month in other benefits by losing pension credit and that in reality, she might be around £130 to £140 a month worse off.

Pension credit

Pension Credit gives you extra money to help with your living costs if you’re over State Pension age and on a low income. Pension Credit can also help with housing costs such as ground rent or service charges.

A partner is either:

Pension Credit tops up:

“They are giving with one hand and taking away with the other,” she said. “It is a sneaky way of taxing pensioners more and taking more money away from them.”

The ‘triple lock’ guarantee means millions of pensioners will be just 15p short of the £12,570 personal allowance next year, according to a forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

It predicted the full new state pension would increase by 4.6 per cent to reach £12,569.85 next April – just 15p less than the £12,570 personal allowance, after which you start to pay income tax.

Ms Johnson says she has received a letter informing her she would receive a telephone call soon to discuss her pension credit as it was awarded on previous information and that she would be asked in-depth questions.

“I went through the Government calculator to prepare myself for when they ring – and that’s when I realised it looks like I’ll lose my pension credit as a result of my state pension increasing by £8 a week,” she said.

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Ms Johnson worked as a manager for a utility company and thought she would retire at 60 and receive her state pension. When she was 59, she emailed the human resources department and asked them what the process was for retirement.

“They said: ‘It’s a few years off yet Jenny’ and that’s when I realised it had gone up to 62,” she recalled. “They said I should have received a letter from the Government, but I didn’t get any letters.

“As I enjoyed my job, I thought it was only another two years and thought that was fine.”

However, Ms Johnson then discovered her state pension age had been increased again to 65. By this time, she was suffering from health issues, including emphysema. Then, six months before her retirement age, she was made redundant.

“I started looking for a little part-time job as I didn’t want to manage people anymore. I had worked for the utility company for 12 years and before that, I had worked for a mobile phone provider for 11 years.

“I had worked since the age of 15 and had done every job imaginable such as working in factories, in canteens and in cleaning jobs.

“But when I applied for part-time jobs at 64 just to keep things ticking over, I just couldn’t get a job. I tried for supermarket jobs, cleaning jobs and all sorts.

“I don’t know if it was because of my age, but when I went to the job centre, they said it was because I had been a manager and that places would be reluctant to take me on in a part-time position as they would be worried that I would take their jobs off them.

“But I didn’t want that. I just wanted a job that I could do and then come home without worrying about all the problems.”

Ms. Johnson ended up selling her house due to health and financial reasons and moved into a bungalow. She began receiving her state pension and pension credit.

“I thought I would retire at 60, but ended up working until 64. Your mind is still fine, but your body gets tired.

“I feel absolutely disheartened by the Labour government and am so angry at the way they have treated us Waspi women.

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“It makes my blood boil that they are totally disregarding the findings of the ombudsman and refusing to pay compensation.”

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman last year found the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guilty of “maladministration” for failing to properly notify women of the changes.

The watchdog recommended compensation payments of between £1,000 and £2,950. It would put the total bill at up to £10.5bn.

She added: “I believe they think pensioners are an easy target because we can’t strike and have no defences against what they do.

“A lot of people in the North East – including myself – were very much Labour as we saw our parents vote Labour and felt they were there for the ordinary working people.

“But I don’t trust them any more and am furious at the way they have treated Waspi women and pensioners.”

Earlier this month, Waspi women launched legal action against the Government after it rejected compensation over the changes to the state pension age.

It follows anger from activists over Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s decision that a compensation scheme would not be “fair or proportionate” use of taxpayers’ money.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting pensioners with millions set to see their state pension rise by up to £1,900 this parliament through our commitment to the triple lock.

“Many others will continue to benefit from the warm home discount and we have extended the Household Support Fund which will help with the cost of heating, food and bills.”

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