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Lisa Walton was furious when, the day after her mother’s sudden death, she received a letter demanding the grieving family repay overpaid state pension funds.
Given that Jennifer Brooks was one of the WASPI women who waited six years to receive her state pension, and then collapsed and died unexpectedly just two years after finally receiving it, her daughter feels it is outrageous that she sent a letter within 24 hours of her death demanding the return of her paltry sum.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Lisa said. I“The government made her wait another six years to receive her state pension, and when she died, she received only a pittance, even though she asked for immediate repayment.”
Ms Brooks collapsed suddenly and died unexpectedly aged 68. She was one of an estimated 3.8 million WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) members affected by major changes to the state pension age.
The 68-year-old woman, from Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea, initially thought she would be able to claim the state pension at 60 but discovered she would have to wait until 66, forcing her to continue working as an aged care worker to make ends meet – including while her husband Melvin was dying of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
Four years after her husband’s death, my grandmother finally started receiving her state pension at age 66. However, in a cruel twist of fate, she only managed to receive it for two years before she suddenly passed away in March this year.
Just two weeks later, on 21 March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman issued a damning ruling finding the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was guilty of “mismanagement” in failing to properly inform women born in the 1950s that the pension age was going to rise from 60 to 65 or 66.
Brooks is not the only person to die before justice is served. The latest statistics show: 283,932 WASP women have died since 2015 – The year the campaign began.
Approximately 111 WASP women die each day, and it is estimated that 10,989 WASP women have died since the Ombudsman’s report was released.
“Many women Died before justice was served “The amount of suffering they and their families have gone through,” said Lisa, 46, who is married with three daughters.
“It feels like the government knows exactly what they’re doing, and they’re dragging it out, waiting for most of the WASP women to die, so that when they finally do give compensation, they’ll only pay the minimum amount to the minimum number of people.”
With one WASP woman dying every 13 minutes before justice is delivered, Lisa is outraged at the treatment people like her mother have received and says after the general election the new government must urgently make amends for all the damage and heartache.
Ms Brooks, who had worked as a caregiver in nursing homes for more than 30 years, had to return to work just two weeks after her husband’s death because she needed the money and had no other source of income.
“My dad worked in sports trophy shops for most of his life and in HVAC for the latter part of his working life,” Lisa explains, “but about 50 years earlier he worked in a power station for a short period and must have been exposed to asbestos during that time.
“He died just six months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Prior to that he had been healthy, fit and had never been sick. The mesothelioma had been lying dormant in his body and started to develop through a cough. Despite many treatments he was gone within six months.”
Melvin died in January 2018, aged 72, while his wife was 62. Neither of them had private pensions, so Brooks had no choice but to continue working during her husband’s illness and after his death.
“My father was 72 when he died, so he was on a state pension, but my mother wasn’t, and his state pension wasn’t enough to cover the costs of living, so my mother had to keep working,” Lisa says. “And after my father passed away, she also had to keep working because there was no widow’s allowance or special assistance, so we were solely dependent on my mother’s income.
“My parents rented a housing association property so after my father passed away my mum had to continue paying the rent and bills and she had to keep working as she had no savings or other source of income.
“The irony is that if she had been in receipt of a pension at 60, she would have claimed it at that point and would have been entitled to assistance such as pension credit, but she got nothing.”
Brooks has two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, and also cares for her elderly mother, who died two years ago at age 99. To balance her work and caregiving responsibilities, Brooks reduced her work days, working three 12-hour days.
Lisa says: “My mother had her pension taken away and died before the WASPI campaign got justice.
“Despite having paid into her pension her entire life, she only received it for two years before she died.
“My mother continued to work until she was eligible for her state pension but, ironically, was made redundant from the care home a month before she was due to receive it. She then passed away two years later.
“This is wrong and heartbreaking for the families of all the WASP women who lost their lives.”
Jennifer suddenly collapsed on March 8 this year and was rushed to hospital, where it was discovered she had a heart condition and stopped breathing, after which fluid entered her lungs, causing her death.
Lisa believes the families of WASP women who died before justice was achieved should be able to seek compensation in their names.
“At the end of the day, these women are entitled to compensation because of the DWP’s failings,” she says. “If they’ve passed away and never had the opportunity to claim compensation, I honestly think their next of kin should be able to claim compensation on their behalf and get justice.”
“If the tax office and pension office can recover money from us after my mother’s death, why can’t we recover it in her name?”
She added: “My mother was part of the WASPI group and she felt strongly about this campaign so I think she would be pleased that we are speaking out about it after her passing.”
“We will continue to fight in her name and are determined to achieve justice.”
WASPI chair Angela Madden said: I“Our hearts go out to Lisa and her family during this difficult time.
“Women like Jennifer received little to no notice about the changes to the state pension age, leaving them with no opportunity to prepare and their retirement plans thrown into disarray.”
“Three months after the release of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report which said WASP women should be paid compensation, the two major political parties have made no progress towards delivering financial compensation.”
“WASP women have supported businesses and families and contributed money to national funds. How many more women must die before we receive the compensation declared by congressional oversight agencies?”
“The only solution is for the next government to bring forward a fair and prompt compensation plan within 100 days of the next parliament.”