Help - what are my rights, Signed off for over 4 years and still employed

Dox

TELLIT01 said:

If the OP has been off sick for 4 1/2 years it suggests that the employer isn't exactly pushing hard.  I suspect the OP actually means permanent health insurance as medical cover wouldn't be paying out each month.  I am also not clear what the OP is expecting of the company.  They presumably know there is no likelihood of the OP returning to work, and will have known that for some time.  There may be a cost involved in terminating employment, I don't know, so there would be even less incentive for the company to take any action.

Medical cover doesn't pay out, but I read OP's post as meaning they still have the benefit of private medical care. Perhaps OP could clarify?

If this is actually a PHI policy and it runs to the earliest of recovery, retirement age or death (rather than a fixed period of years), then the employer would have trouble terminating OP's employment.

74jax

howtoplant said:

I don't really understand the problem here

Then why bother posting?
Also.. You can not advertise a website on here. 🙄 

You could join the gardening section and help out tho..... 

JReacher1

I’ve read this as meaning the OP just has private healthcare eg BUPA and aren’t actually getting paid anything from anybody. 

Comms69

Donna8 said:

Basically they could say that I have been in contact with them and wish to push for an exit.

I know that I will not be going back to work, this has been confirmed by my mental health team as I am not fit enough.

Ultimately I want to get the best deal financially and leave and thats correct I am not receiving any salary from for the past 3.5 years

You are entitled to the sweet sum of - zero.

So no idea what youre expecting

[Deleted User]

My employer has critical illness cover provided by AXA that will pay 50% of your salary for as long as you send in fit notes. Some people have been off sick for years, still "on the books" but not being paid - they receive the benefit from the insurance. It really helped a colleague of mine who had cancer and exhausted all his salary and sickness benefit while trying to get well again.
Ultimately, it's up to the insurance company. For us, if they decide the criteria are not being met, the payment stops and then my employer will just dismiss the person - which is quite right. 
I'd wager that anyone with "anxiety and depression" for 4 years and still can't return to work is never going to and don't want to. 

Malthusian

Comms69 said:

Donna8 said:

Basically they could say that I have been in contact with them and wish to push for an exit.

I know that I will not be going back to work, this has been confirmed by my mental health team as I am not fit enough.

Ultimately I want to get the best deal financially and leave and thats correct I am not receiving any salary from for the past 3.5 years

You are entitled to the sweet sum of - zero.

So no idea what youre expecting

If the OP has PHI (aka income protection) as they say, that is not true.

PHI is not insurance against hospital bills, that is PMI (private medical insurance). PHI stands for Permanent Health Insurance (Permanent meaning it lasts until retirement age rather than a fixed date as with Accident Sickness and Unemployment policies), although it's easily confused. "Income protection" is now more commonly used to avoid the PHI / PMI confusion.

If the OP has used the wrong terminology they need to come back and clarify, while also saying what they want to achieve. Based on the facts in their post they do not need to do anything.

camelot1971 said: My employer has critical illness cover provided by AXA that will pay 50% of your salary for as long as you send in fit notes.

To be pedantic, that is PHI / income protection, not critical illness cover.

Critical illness cover pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with an illness from a specified list. PHI pays out an income for as long as you are unable to work due to illness or injury. I am not just being an annoying pedant because they are very different. PHI is easier to claim against - with critical illness cover you can be ill and unable to work but unable to claim because you "have the wrong kind of cancer". Critical illness won't usually pay out enough to cover your needs without working until retirement age (unless you pay an absolute fortune in premiums).

Malthusian

Dox said:

It's private medical cover, not permanent health insurance, if I've correctly understood OP's post. If there's an ongoing claim under a PHI policy, normally the insurers would almost certainly be in touch on a regular basis to see how they can 'help' the claimant to return to work. Regular medicals in a case of this sort would certainly feature.

The OP's reference to "sending sick certificates in" suggests the insurer's need to check they are still unable to work has been covered.

Donna8 said:

Ultimately I want to get the best deal financially and leave and thats correct I am not receiving any salary from for the past 3.5 years

If you have a PHI policy in payment you are already getting the best deal.

Based on the facts in your post you should do nothing, other than to continue to accept treatment from your healthcare professionals and comply with any reasonable requests from the insurer.

Comms69

Malthusian said:

Comms69 said:

Donna8 said:

Basically they could say that I have been in contact with them and wish to push for an exit.

I know that I will not be going back to work, this has been confirmed by my mental health team as I am not fit enough.

Ultimately I want to get the best deal financially and leave and thats correct I am not receiving any salary from for the past 3.5 years

You are entitled to the sweet sum of - zero.

So no idea what youre expecting

If the OP has PHI (aka income protection) as they say, that is not true.

PHI is not insurance against hospital bills, that is PMI (private medical insurance). PHI stands for Permanent Health Insurance (Permanent meaning it lasts until retirement age rather than a fixed date as with Accident Sickness and Unemployment policies), although it's easily confused. "Income protection" is now more commonly used to avoid the PHI / PMI confusion.

If the OP has used the wrong terminology they need to come back and clarify, while also saying what they want to achieve. Based on the facts in their post they do not need to do anything.

camelot1971 said: My employer has critical illness cover provided by AXA that will pay 50% of your salary for as long as you send in fit notes.

To be pedantic, that is PHI / income protection, not critical illness cover.

Critical illness cover pays a lump sum if you are diagnosed with an illness from a specified list. PHI pays out an income for as long as you are unable to work due to illness or injury. I am not just being an annoying pedant because they are very different. PHI is easier to claim against - with critical illness cover you can be ill and unable to work but unable to claim because you "have the wrong kind of cancer". Critical illness won't usually pay out enough to cover your needs without working until retirement age (unless you pay an absolute fortune in premiums).

I was referring to redundancy 🙂

Dox

Why bother to go on answering/speculating if OP can't be bothered to clarify?

Manxman_in_exile

Probably a stupid question (and no help to OP) but what sort of job provides (or provided) Permanent Health Insurance?  Do I understand that that means some sort of paid benefits in the event you can't work because of ill health - and those benefits continue until you reach retirement age?