They have also recommended early access to pension credit for women who are otherwise eligible. Some individuals aren’t entitled to this support as their income is too low, but they cannot access other support, such as universal credit. Individuals must receive a minimum income of £144.38 a week if single, or £229.67 if in a couple to qualify for pension credit. The Waspi group has been opposing the recent raises to the state pension age for women, which were accelerated by the Pension Act 2011. Along with fellow campaign group Backto60, they have argued that changes were unfairly implemented and gave affected individuals insufficient time to prepare, or to make alternative plans. Both groups state that compensation should be awarded to any impacted women, but back in October 2019, the High Court rejected claims from Backto60 that the changes to state pension age were discriminatory. The group will appeal this decision in July 2020.
The Financial Adviser reported that Chrissie Lord, Waspi’s campaign director, stated:
“We’re increasingly concerned about the disproportionate impact the outbreak is having on 1950s born women.
Like others, many Waspi women are seeing a significant impact on their livelihoods as a result of income uncertainty and difficulties accessing affordable food and other essentials.
For women who were already in serious financial difficulty as a result of mismanagement of changes to the state pension age, the impact is huge.”
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COVID-19 transfer warnings will be issued by pension schemes to savers 30 April 2020
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued guidance which advises trustees to send Defined Benefit (DB) members, intending to move retirement funds, letters, to alert them to the risks of doing this during the outbreak of coronavirus, and to remind them to carefully consider the decision.
The letter should warn savers that a transfer from a DB to a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme is not likely to be in their best long-term interests at the current time.
Since 2015, pensions freedoms have allowed scheme members more flexibility in the ways in which they can access their pension. Last year alone, £34 billion was transferred from DB schemes, as many savers have made us of the new levels of flexibility. TPR is acutely aware that COVID-19 is causing substantial market volatility and uncertainty for both business and personal finances and is concerned that pension members might be making rash decisions which could have negative consequences on their pensions.
The Pension Regulator’s Chief Executive, Charles Counsell, said:
"We are determined to do all we can to protect savers' retirements from the unprecedented impact of COVID-19.
A decision to transfer a pension pot that’s taken a lifetime to build is a very serious one and we'd urge members to be very, very careful making any transfer decisions at this time.
That’s why for the foreseeable future, anyone who is looking to transfer their benefits out of their DB scheme should be sent a new warning letter to make them stop and think as well as point them towards free, impartial guidance available from The Pensions Advisory Service." In response to the coronavirus pandemic, TPR has issued guidance to assist schemes and employers in dealing with emerging risks and has provided trustees with advice in relation to how to communicate with their members. TPR is urging trustees to take a number of steps, including:
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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