Does anyone know this answer please?

finnuala123

My sister has a pension (She was a senior probation officer) she took early retirement a year ago.

Unfortunately she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and it doesnt look like she has much time left.

I have been told however that she should tell her pension provider because there is an extra lump sum payment for someone in her condition, is this right because she had a lump sum when she retired?

Does anyone know?

Debt_Free_Chick

It depends on the terms of the pension she has, but I suspect "not".

For someone who is not yet receiving their pension, if their life expectancy is unusually short, it's possible to "cash in" the pension and recieve pretty much all of it as a lump sum.

However, I've never seen this as an option where the person concerned is already in reciept of their pension.

Andy_L

Depends on the scheme rules.

If its the Local Government scheme (which it probably is) there's a lump sum payable on death within 5 years of retiring, its the balance of 5 years pension ie 4 years for your sister
http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=101550

As its a discretionary payment (in order to avoid income tax) they may well pay it out on a terminal illness diagnosis. Contact details here:
http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=99259