High Court Backto60 review

I was born in 1962 and my DH and I are devastated by these changes. We have an 11 year age gap and had planned to retire together when I was 60 and him 71 . Recent changes mean I will have to work until I am 67 and 4 months. I honestly don't think my DH will make it to 78 !

Hi Redtop1, it's slightly reassuring that I'm not the only one and thanks for sharing. My own view is that the financial authorities should be taking the utmost care to get things right for us as many of us are finding the going precarious beyond 60.

Plans made over many years between us and our partners/families are on hold and we should not have to struggle to get simple answers, particularly when we are getting mixed messages or no messages at all.

I've been promised confirmation letters from HMRC and the National Insurance people since February. Both say not to worry, they have the situation under control.

What they do, indeed, have is my money to cover NI contributions. They just don't seem to know where they put it.

Getting through to anyone is an absolute nightmare.

It feels like we have been binned, which only adds insult to injury. At the very least I hope the review leads to us being able to access good information and being able to see exactly what our futures hold.

And, most important, what have they done with the savings they are raking in at present from having half the population on hold for state pension?

Just to clarify The Backto60 Judicial Review hearing is over 2 days 5th & 6th June. This is only just be ing mentioned in the mainstream media as there has up until now been a media blackout regarding the campaign.

I have also had a battle with HMRC and DWP over voluntary NI Contribution payment made for 3 years of some £2,300 which the HMRC lost. 3 weeks of constantly ringing and being ping ponged between them with no one wanting to take responsibility. I eventually found out the 3 years NI had been incorrectly posted against incorrect years (payments made prior to 2016/17 New Pension don’t count to increase the pension if your due get a pension under the new scheme). My original correspondence and payment reference stated contribution would be for 2016/17, 2017/18 & 2018/19).

Fortunately, my tenacity eventually paid off, and the increased amount has been added and I have received the correct back payment. I just kept telephoning and speaking to different people (sometimes 2 or 3 people a day) until I got a person who would actually do something to push it through, when the others would just tell me to wait and that it takes time and try calling in three weeks!

This from the BBC 8 hours ago:

“Up until 2010, women received their state pensions at the age of 60 but that has been rising since then.

The retirement age of both men and women will increase steadily to 67 by 2028.

While most campaigners support pension age equality, they are claiming sex discrimination in the judicial review.

They argue that the lack of notice and the speed of the change have resulted in women being disadvantaged.
Campaign group Women against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) says it is not against equalisation: "But we do not accept the unfair way the changes to our state pension age were implemented with inadequate or no notice."

One woman who had been affected said:

Timandra French, a 64-year-old ambulance driver from Margate, said she had just 14 months' notice that she wouldn't get her pension at 60, but instead have to wait until she was 65.
"It makes me feel angry, depressed, put upon," she says.
Ms French says she has struggled to continue in her "physically and emotionally" demanding job, which requires her to carry people up and down stairs as well as heavy bags.
"I'm at the stage now where I'm finding it pretty impossible to continue. I'm struggling," she says.
Ms French calculates that the pension payments she would have received had she retired at 60, would be worth "something like £49,000".

Thanks Urmstongran. On Radio Scotland they said it would start today, but these things are never precise as they sometimes spend the first day or two setting out who will speak when and doing the paperwork.

I’m keeping an eye out - the case is being heard in the High Court tomorrow 6 June apparently.

Fingers crossed!