War widows who remarried have attacked a “disrespectful, last-minute” change to a Government compensation scheme that means they would be tens of thousands of pounds better off only if they divorced their current partners.
Dozens of women who were stripped of their war widows pension after finding love again have learned that they are not eligible for an £87,500 lump sum bereavement payout.
But if they divorced their current partner the pension would be reinstated and they would receive tax-free payments of about £8,000 a year for life even if they remarried again.
Pension rules for the spouses of personnel killed in service were overhauled in 2015.
It meant the bereaved no longer had to give up the Government income they would otherwise be entitled to if they began a new relationship.
But the measures were not backdated and those who had forfeited their war widows pension to get remarried between 1973 and 2015 were not reimbursed.
The Ministry of Defence agreed last year to an £87,500 ex-gratia payout for some 380 people who had been forced to give up the payments.
But at least 72 women have this month been told they are not eligible for the scheme.
For most it is because they remarried after 2000 and had therefore been allowed to keep some compensation in the form of their spouse’s armed forces pension.
Judith Howcroft is one of the women who has been left out.
Her first husband, Squadron Leader Bill Vivian, died in 1998 when his Tornado fighter crashed in training. She was six months pregnant with their second child.
With two young children to support, she received the war widows pension, plus her husband’s armed forces pension.
Mrs Howcroft gave up the war widows pension when she married second husband Richie almost two decades ago.
She said she had been rejected by the compensation scheme and branded the loophole “ridiculous”.
The couple have discussed divorcing and remarrying because they would be about £8,000 a year better off.
Mrs Howcroft told the Standard: “My husband, bless him, said if they’re going to refuse to give you this payment, let’s just get divorced.
“I can get divorced then apply for my war widows pension to be reinstated.
“Then we can remarry and I keep my pension. The Government has treated us with such a level of disrespect.
“It’s never been about the money but it would be about £8,000 tax-free a year and in a cost of living crisis that is not to be sneezed at.”
Moira Kane, chairman of the War Widows Association (WWA), said the Government refusing women the payment on a technicality was “inexcusable”.
"They have totally let us down and we will fight this with whatever means possible," she said.
The House of Lords’ defence spokesman, Lord Harlech, has agreed to meet the association to discuss their concerns.
Labour peer and WWA vice-president Baroness Crawley said: "There is huge anger among many war widows because of the last-minute eligibility criteria imposed on this recognition payment.
"Last May, the Government finally agreed that all war widows deserved special consideration under the Armed Forces covenant; now, they appear to have gone back on their word."
Tory peer Baroness Fookes added: "It appears simply to be a last-minute attempt to claw back some money that is rightfully theirs. I call this, at best, mean-spirited."
The MoD denies that the eligibility criteria has changed.
Of the 72 people who have been rejected for the payout, 49 were already in receipt of financial reward for their bereavement, 10 are eligible for their war widow’s pension to be reinstated due to no longer being in a relationship that led to the original forfeiture and 13 had their initial claim rejected because of insufficient evidence or because their partner died from a non-service attributable death.
An MoD spokesman added: “The War Widows Association were consulted frequently during the development of the scheme with the eligibility criteria made clear during the process - someone who is in receipt of at least one form of widow compensation is not eligible for the scheme.
“There is nothing we can do to bring a loved one back, and no amount of money will ever change that.
“The purpose of the Recognition Payment Scheme is to recognise the sacrifice made by those who forfeited their entitlement to a pension for a death attributable to service prior to 2015 and cannot have their pension restored because they are still in a relationship.
“Those who still receive their deceased spouse’s attributable pension will not receive the War Widows Recognition Payment.”
