Voluntary redundancy and I'll health retirement

JamieT1975

Hi everyone

My partner is 46 and has Parkinsons Disease and has been off work for nearly a year. She works for the Environment Agency. She was going down the ill health route but has now been offered VERS. The EA have said if she takes VERS she cannot take ill health. I don't think this is correct as if she left work now and became ill years later she could apply so I don't see the difference.

If anyone gas had any experience of this we'd be really grateful for any advice.

Kind regards
Jamie

lincroft1710

Is she a union member, as her union should be the best qualified to answer this.

Schemes and rules may well have changed since I was in CS but usually you could only exit before pensionable age using one method only

Silvertabby

The Environment Agency is part of the LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme). Speaking from a pensions point of view, there is a huge difference between ill health retirement and redundancy at your partner's age. Don't be swayed by someone telling her to take redundancy now and then look at ill health later.

For example, as your partner is under 55, if she were to take redundancy her pension benefits would be preserved in the scheme in the same way as a normal early leaver - ie, can't be taken until 55 and then subject to an actuarial reduction for early payment. You are right when you say that she could then ask for her deferred benefits to be brought into payment on ill health grounds before the age of 55 - but whilst ill health from deferred means that the actuarial reduction is waived, there is NO service enhancement.

Whereas... If your partner were to be granted Tier 1 ill health retirement from current service, her pensionable service would be enhanced to her normal retirement age - ie, State pension age of 68(?).

Note that this full enhancement only applies to Tier 1 - Tier 2 has a lesser enhancement (I can't see Tier 3 being applicable to your partner).

lincroft1710

Silvertabby wrote: »

The Environment Agency is part of the LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme).

Silver, why is EA part of LGPS when it appears to be a central government agency? Has this agency been downgraded?

Silvertabby

lincroft - good question, well presented. However, I don't know the answer - just that the EA has been part of LGPS for many years.

lincroft1710

I'm retired Valuation Office Agency which was part of Inland Revenue and then called District Valuer and Valuation Officer. In about 1990 it became an "Executive Agency" of the IR and became known as the VOA, and later an agency of HMRC. But our pensions are Civil Service pensions.

Silvertabby

I'm a retired LGPS administrator. I suppose that the EA does sound as though it should be in the civil service pension fund - but I can only guess that someone some years ago decided that it should be in the LGPS.

The two schemes are very similar, but not identical. However, all things being equal, I can't say that one is better than the other.

I suppose some members of the EA (not the OPs partner!) may wish, for whatever reason, to transfer their benefits to a SIPP or similar. This wouldn't be possible if they were in the unfunded civil service scheme - but is possible from the funded LGPS.

lincroft1710

Silvertabby wrote: »

The two schemes are very similar, but not identical. However, all things being equal, I can't say that one is better than the other.

I would guess that none of the current schemes are as good as the ones we retired under

Silvertabby

“ The two schemes are very similar, but not identical. However, all things being equal, I can't say that one is better than the other.

Originally posted by Silvertabby ”
I would guess that none of the current schemes are as good as the ones we retired under

You're right - they are both now career average. Mr S and I are even more fortunate - our main pensions are from our combined 50+ years in the Armed Forces.