Public Sector Scheme Not Such A Good Deal?

System

Thanks xylophone

the grounds were that they simply didn't accept that I couldn't return to my old job or that my chronic severe pain constituted any barrier to any other type of work.

If I tell you that the doctor who interviewed me was a voluble Irishman who smelled strongly of a heavy night last night, you might start to get the picture. He had never heard of my condition, had not bothered to research it before hand, and more or less suggested that I was making it up.

When I also then explained that tests showed that my hearing response starts to drop severely at about 10 kHz and that I am effectively completely deaf from about 14 kHz, he "corrected" me to the effect that human hearing "only goes up to 8k" !

A good twenty minutes of an hour long interview was taken up with him lecturing me about the fundamental "madness" of the NHS, and how dreadful it would be if the Tories didn't win the then forthcoming election. Not least he said because his elderly mother lives alone in a central London property worth two million quid, and a mansion tax would be hard for her.

In the event, the report was written by somebody else entirely (based in Scotland) with a very foreign-sounding name and who either doesn't have English as a first language or has significant mental health issues.

What can you do?!

jamesd

It seems that you need a proper medical report from someone who knows your condition, the hearing requirements of your BBC job and the fact that your hearing as a result of the condition prevents you from doing it. That can then form the basis of your appeal, along with your job hunting experiences when disclosing or not disclosing the condition.

xylophone

Judging by "Jamaica Inn", sensitivity to sound is no longer a "sine qua non" for sound engineers at the BEEB?:)

Did you obtain a report from your consultant to take with you when you went to interview?

atush

EarlyDoors55 wrote: »

Thanks xylophone

the grounds were that they simply didn't accept that I couldn't return to my old job or that my chronic severe pain constituted any barrier to any other type of work.

If I tell you that the doctor who interviewed me was a voluble Irishman who smelled strongly of a heavy night last night, you might start to get the picture. He had never heard of my condition, had not bothered to research it before hand, and more or less suggested that I was making it up.

When I also then explained that tests showed that my hearing response starts to drop severely at about 10 kHz and that I am effectively completely deaf from about 14 kHz, he "corrected" me to the effect that human hearing "only goes up to 8k" !

A good twenty minutes of an hour long interview was taken up with him lecturing me about the fundamental "madness" of the NHS, and how dreadful it would be if the Tories didn't win the then forthcoming election. Not least he said because his elderly mother lives alone in a central London property worth two million quid, and a mansion tax would be hard for her.

In the event, the report was written by somebody else entirely (based in Scotland) with a very foreign-sounding name and who either doesn't have English as a first language or has significant mental health issues.

What can you do?!

What can you do? Shop him to the authorities for not being 'fit for purpose'. You cant have someone evaluate you and your condition who has never heard of it so then calls you a liar? This is ridiculous. And so unprofessional it beggars belief.

Get the union to help you appeal.

This case is so astounding it sounds perfect for the newspapers champions.

System

Thanks atush

but as I've said, it seems this sort of thing is not unusual with Capita. The union has seen it all many times before, and is not confident of a positive outcome.

As for "newspapers" as "champions", come on! The vast majority of UK national papers despise the BBC and its employees. What sympathy do you imagine there'd be for a man who's had an enjoyable nearly 30 year career there, on a reasonable salary paid out of other people's taxes (that's how they'll see it,) and is now whinging about whether he can afford to retire at 55?

I mean thanks for the thought, but get real!

atush

The champions are not affected by the same bias as their readers.

And to be fair, while I find the BBC biased politically, no one would blame a sound engineer. And I still use and watch the BBC. Because it is superior to the options available.

People still love the BBC, bias or no.

xylophone

Nobody would expect a blind man to work as a cameraman or a deaf man to work as a sound engineer?

If you were still working for the BBC, would you or would you not qualify for an immediate unreduced pension on the grounds of ill health?

System

No. From my experience (as a union rep looking after other people) there is no sense in which anyone is deemed to "qualify" for an immediate pension.

The application for it is at the discretion of management, and its award in the gift of the pension scheme trustees.

xylophone

Well, it is up to you.

You appeal or you wait to take your pension until NRD or you apply to take it on an actuarially reduced basis or you apply to transfer out with the costs and attendant risks.

What course of action seems best to you?

hyubh

EarlyDoors55 wrote: »

No. From my experience (as a union rep looking after other people) there is no sense in which anyone is deemed to "qualify" for an immediate pension.

The application for it is at the discretion of management, and it's award in the gift of the pension scheme trustees.

Of course an ill health retirement is going to be a decision of the scheme trustees, as they are the ones responsible for the pension fund and the scheme at large. Who on earth else do you think should be making the decision?

If an ill health request has been unsuccessful but you believe incorrectly so, relative to the scheme rules (presumably you have a copy? If not get one), follow the process outlined in law - raise an IDR complaint with the scheme, get TPAS involved, and ultimately (but not before the other things) raise a complaint with the Pensions Ombudsman:

https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/our-service/personal-and-occupational-pensions/individuals-pension-scheme-members/