Legal fee threat to claimants

The government has resorted to threats and bullying in an effort to halt a claim for compensation for lost pensions.

Ministers fear they will lose court cases over their decision not to compensate people who have lost pensions after the companies where they worked went bust. Judges are likely to rule that the government was wrong to set aside a recommendation to compensate 70,000 claimants in such situations.

So last week the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) told four claimants who had lodged a judicial review of the decision that they would face unlimited legal costs if they lost their case against it.

Until now the DWP has not tried to recover costs from people who are unsuccessful in legal cases where a point of public interest is at stake.