Early retirement and benefits

Onebrokelady

hi everyone I am suffering with ongoing  ill health that isn't like to improve significantly. I've reduced my hours at work but have still had quite a bit of time off so my manager is sending me to occupational health. They have made all the reasonable adjustments that they can so I'm not sure what OH are going to suggest. I am wanting to find out if  there are any benefits available to me if I were to take early retirement through ill health. I am 59 and and have been paying into my NHS pension for 23 years but I'm only a band2 healthcare assisted so my pension won't be huge, possibly about £300 a month which won't even pay my bills. I can do all my own self care and am still managing to work despite being in a lot of pain, I don't think I would qualify for PIP because I don't struggle with any of the things on the  claim form. I'm just really struggling with work so don't know what to do 

poppy12345

The first thing to look at is SSP from your employer which is payable for 28 weeks, with a fit note. https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/eligibility along side this you can look at claiming Universal Credit. As it's means tested then if you live with a partner you claim as a couple and your joint circumstances will be taken into consideration. You can report a health condition supported by a fit note if you claim this and then you'll be assessed for the work capability assessment. Use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. If you have savings/capital of more than £16,000 you're excluded from claiming. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=cc2edd34-5dab-43b5-bcee-05243cfd367c

3 months before your SSP ends you can start a claim for New style ESA, this isn't means tested but you'll need to have paid the correct amount of NI contributions in the previous 2 tax years. You won't be paid anything until the SSP ends. If you claim both the above together the ESA is deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

Any pension will reduce the UC £1 for £1. For ESA any pension of up to £85/week is ignored, for every £1 over this there's a 50p/week reduction in ESA.

Regarding PIP, it does help to have some understanding of the descriptors and critieria because it's very easy to think that you won't score any points because you don't meet the descriptors. I'd advise you to take some time to have a read of this and hopfully it will help to understand it a little more. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

sammyjammy

Onebrokelady said:

hi everyone I am suffering with ongoing  ill health that isn't like to improve significantly. I've reduced my hours at work but have still had quite a bit of time off so my manager is sending me to occupational health. They have made all the reasonable adjustments that they can so I'm not sure what OH are going to suggest. I am wanting to find out if  there are any benefits available to me if I were to take early retirement through ill health. I am 59 and and have been paying into my NHS pension for 23 years but I'm only a band2 healthcare assisted so my pension won't be huge, possibly about £300 a month which won't even pay my bills. I can do all my own self care and am still managing to work despite being in a lot of pain, I don't think I would qualify for PIP because I don't struggle with any of the things on the  claim form. I'm just really struggling with work so don't know what to do 

On the pension front have you actually looked at your last pension statement?  Better to have all the facts then just make assumptions.

Would it be possible to do other types of work?

Prudent

Taking ill health retirement can be quite an anxious time financially. When I made the decision to apply it felt a bit like jumping off a cliff into the unknown. I would like to reassure you it may turn out much better than you expect.

The figure of £300 works out at just less than £70 per week. You can apply for ESA on top. If successful this could add which could add up to £117 per week. You could also try an application for PIP. You don't have to meet all of the criteria, just enough to get 8 points. 

If you are renting you can apply for help with your rent. You will also be eligible for help with your council tax.

noitsnotme

23 years paying in to a pension that only pays £3600 a year?!  That can’t be right, surely?  Shocking if it is.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

noitsnotme said:

23 years paying in to a pension that only pays £3600 a year?!  That can’t be right, surely?  Shocking if it is.

NHS band 2 is currently £21,318 so an 60th basis the op would potentially get double what they think but being part time would reduce that and the McCloud judgement complicates things.

But £300/month certainly seems on the low side.

tacpot12

I would have thought that the OP would be in line for a pension, at age 60, of around £6,100 per year. The Band 2 salary is £21,318, and most of the OP's pension will be in the 1995 Scheme which pays 1/80th of their final salary per year of service, and it also pays a lump sum of 3 times the annual pension, which should be a further £16,000 (as some of their service is in the 2015 Scheme). 

The 1995 Scheme's normal retirement age is 60, and the OP is 59 now, and will probably be 60 by the time they have to draw on their pension, so there shouldn't be much if any actuarial reduction. 

If the client has worked part-time during her service, she will have accumulated service as a slower rate, and this may be what is affecting her pension. 

It's good advice to check your latest pension forecast on your Total Reward Statement, but be aware that the data used for the pension forecast in the TRS is normally two years out of date, so the pension you receive will almost always be a good deal more than the TRS suggests. 

poppy12345

Prudent said:

If you are renting you can apply for help with your rent. You will also be eligible for help with your council tax.

Which would need to be Universal Credit. Whether there's any entitlement to this will depend on OP circumstances.

Onebrokelady

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

noitsnotme said:

23 years paying in to a pension that only pays £3600 a year?!  That can’t be right, surely?  Shocking if it is.

NHS band 2 is currently £21,318 so an 60th basis the op would potentially get double what they think but being part time would reduce that and the McCloud judgement complicates things.

But £300/month certainly seems on the low side.

Sorry I posted £300 bymistake, I was full time up until about 4 years ago when I reduced  my hours to 30.5 then down to 26.5 and I'm  currently working 22.5 ,I'm currently earning £11,900 before deductions but not including unsocial hours

Onebrokelady

Thanks for your help everyone,I am sorry I posted £300 by mistake. I have statements for both the 1995 scheme and the 2015 scheme  and I read the wrong one . I do have a pension statement that I took a photo of ( tried to print it out but the printer was being an idiot ) I will try and find it and post more info.
I was full time up until about 4 years ago when I reduced my hours to 30.5 then I went to 26.5 then in April this year I dropped down to 22.5 due to ill health. I'm currently earning £11,900 before deductions but not including unsocial hours 

tacpot12

Thanks for the update. I noticed in your signature that you have a considerable amount of personal debt (but that you have also paid a good deal off - well done!) This opens up an avenue of using your pension lump sum to clear your debts. The amount of the lump sum is likely to be sufficient to clear them completely, and leave you with about £4,000. This is under the amount that would result in any deduction for capital from Universal Credit.  

But if you intend to claim any means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit, you need to be aware of the rules on deliberate depravation of capital. 

These rules say that you can be regarded as still having your capital even if you have used it to repay your debts, if your "significant operative reason" for repaying the debts was to increase your entitlement to means-tested benefits. Practically, what this means is that, providing you are saving more than a trivial amount of interest, any debt repayment will be allowed. You just need to be clear to the DWP that you have cleared your debts to avoid paying unnecessary interest.

However, clearing these debts, would leave you with a much smaller lump sum, and hence less income if you were to plan to spend this over the period between retirement and receiving your state pension. Another reasonable use of your lump sum would be to make any voluntary NI contributions necessary to secure you the maximum state pension. As you are on a low income currently, the last year or so may need topping up. This can be very efficient as you only need to top up you NI contributions in those years - you may have already paid most of what would be needed. You need to get a forecast of your state pension, and check if you have any years that are not "full". You can do this online, although you will need a Government Gateway login. These take about 10 days to arrive. You can also fill a form in and have the information sent in the post. 

I think you will find that with your correct pension forecast from your two NHS pensions, and ESA, and having cleared your debts with your lump sum, you will be able to survive until your state pension kicks in and then things should get a bit easier.