Ill health retirement - really confused!

hyubh

naynay wrote: »

I am contracted to the LA but my emplyers took over from the LA a few years back.

It probably doesn't wholly matter, but I confess I'm a bit confused as to who your employer actually is - before you said it was an LA, now you're implying you TUPE'd to a contractor...?

My pension company is Teacher Pensions.

So you're in the Teachers Pension Scheme rather than the LGPS then. Are you well up to speed with the information available on TP's website?

https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/members/working-life/life-events/ill-health.aspx

The actual regulations are here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/512/regulation/108/made

Forget the detail of what me and others have said about the LGPS, because the TPS is obviously a different (if similar-ish) scheme. E.g., where the LGPS has 3 ill health tiers, the TPS only has 2.

The HR officer and my boss have given me no instruction other than for me to send them my medical notes.

I'd just say you're following TP's procedure (assuming you actually are). You certainly don't need to send medical notes to a line manager.

Indeed, from what has been written above, should it be the employers asking for and taking the lead on submitting an application for IHR or me?

From the regulations linked to above:

Ill-health applications

108.—(1) An ill-health application made by a person (P)—

(a)must be accompanied by all the medical evidence necessary for the scheme manager to determine whether P is entitled to the payment of an ill-health pension and, if applicable, a total incapacity pension; and
(b)must be signed by P’s employer unless—
(i)P left all eligible employment for a reason other than because P was incapacitated; or
(ii)P made the ill-health application more than 2 years after the last day of pensionable service.

(2) The medical evidence must include a medical report containing evidence that P meets—

(a)the incapacity condition; and
(b)if applicable, the total incapacity condition.

The 'scheme manager' referred to is formally the Secretary State for Education in the case of the TPS. In practice Justine Greening doesn't spend her days mulling over ill health retirement requests, so as you suggest, it's a decision done through TP and the DfE, rather than being one for the employer like in the LGPS.

FBaby

I am so confused. I have not sent the medical evidence to my line manager nor HR but I have offered to send it to their OH, (although as my doctors have written evidence for my applications I am not sure why the OH needs this now).

So your manager wants your record so he can send to HR. Just ask him who the HR person is that it needs to go and say you'll send it to them directly? Or are you saying that you don't trust the HR manager and that they might share the detail to your manager? If so, on what ground? Just provide a letter at the top of the record to state that you are requesting that this information is not shared with people who have no essential need for access to these records and that you understand it will be send directly to OH?

Anneemai

Hi I am going through IHR and I work for a local authority, there are three tiers:

Tier 3 - will be able to work after 2 years - so will receive a small pension ( I have been offered this)
Tier 2 - Situation to be reviewed after 3 - 5yrs.
Tier 1 - fully retired from as unable to work.

My case I requested IHR due to my health, my employers referred me for IHR after my request, my employers have not seen my records as they are sent directly to the independent health specialist.
They review the information and then write their recommendation back to the pension department, my direct employers do not see this information.
My struggle at the moment is trying to find out what benefits I would be entitled to. It is all a big unknown. I hope you get more cleared information.

hyubh

Anneemai wrote: »

I am going through IHR and I work for a local authority, there are three tiers:

Tier 3 - will be able to work after 2 years - so will receive a small pension ( I have been offered this)
Tier 2 - Situation to be reviewed after 3 - 5yrs.
Tier 1 - fully retired from as unable to work.

That's LGPS, not TPS. The applicable rules will be slightly different for the original poster.

My struggle at the moment is trying to find out what benefits I would be entitled to. It is all a big unknown.

Have you tried to crunch the numbers yourself?

LGPS tier 3 - pension earned to date, without an actuarial reduction for being taken early. In a nutshell, the figure of interest should be on your last annual benefit statement (issued last autumn, for date effective 31 March 2016) + a bit more for the pension you've accrued since.

LGPS tier 2 - as above, plus your current assumed pensionable pay (basically, your actual annual pay before any reduction caused by the ill health) x 1/49 x years to your state pension age (i.e. your normal pension age in the CARE scheme) x 0.25

LGPS tier 1 - your accrued pension to date + your current assumed pensionable pay x 1/49 x years to your state pension age

Basher7

Can someone please help me answer this question I have a pension worth £20,000 with Aegon I have had to retire through ill health mental health illness since diagnosis in 2013 can I get a full one off settlement in full as Aegon said I woul get monthly instalments, but I need it in full as I want to purchase property abroad and will not get a mortgage because I'm on benefits. Would appreciate any replies. Thanks.

ohreally

Basher7 wrote: »

Can someone please help me answer this question I have a pension worth £20,000 with Aegon I have had to retire through ill health mental health illness since diagnosis in 2013 can I get a full one off settlement in full as Aegon said I woul get monthly instalments, but I need it in full as I want to purchase property abroad and will not get a mortgage because I'm on benefits. Would appreciate any replies. Thanks.

This depends on the terms of your pension product, if the provider has said no to a lump sum then this may be the end.

You'd be better posting your own thread and on the pensions board.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

paddedjohn

Basher7 wrote: »

Can someone please help me answer this question I have a pension worth £20,000 with Aegon I have had to retire through ill health mental health illness since diagnosis in 2013 can I get a full one off settlement in full as Aegon said I woul get monthly instalments, but I need it in full as I want to purchase property abroad and will not get a mortgage because I'm on benefits. Would appreciate any replies. Thanks.

If you could get it paid out (not sure) it could possibly affect what benefits you receive