Civil Service Ill Health Retirement and Injury Benefit

Florence_Walker

I have recently been issued an Alpha certificate for ill health retirment at the lower tier. I have been ill since 2021. I think I am right in that I will get a pension of what I have accrued so far in both the Premium Scheme (I joined in 2006) and the Alpha scheme.

Q1 Will I be offered two options? One for Premium ending in 2015 with the rest in Aplha and one with Premium ending in 2022 and the rest in Alpha? There will be a significant difference.

Q2 Or will I be offered the lower of the two?

Q3 I am pretty certain my illness was caused by work and my employer not following their own guidance. Can I apply for the Civil Service Injury Benefit Scheme as well as be medically retired at the lower Tier?

I have obliterated my savings over the last 3.5 years whilst being ill and that includes a significant four figure sum on private health professional(s). I have used up all my employer sick pay and  used up my statutory sick pay. I currently have no income and my IHR pension will not start for some time yet. I have also been seeing a Citizen’s Advice Bureau staff member about benefits so that area is 'covered'.

Q4 Is the CSIBS (if awarded) simply a top up to your monthly income or can it retrospectively compensate me for the costs described above and loss of earnings? Is it taxed?

Q5 Is the only option to retrieve some of these costs or seek compensation by means of Damages and solicitors etc?  (After years of ill health I haven't got anything left in the tank for that).

Thanks

hugheskevi

Q1 Will I be offered two options? One for Premium ending in 2015 with the rest in Aplha and one with Premium ending in 2022 and the rest in Alpha? There will be a significant difference.

Yes. It would be expected that the alpha from 2015 option will be significantly better in your position.

Q3 I am pretty certain my illness was caused by work and my employer not following their own guidance. Can I apply for the Civil Service Injury Benefit Scheme as well as be medically retired at the lower Tier?

You being pretty sure is insufficient. You would require evidence of an injury suffered at work. You would need decent evidence, eg, of issues raised with managers and HR, reasonable adjustments not provided over a prolonged period, etc.

There are interactions between the Injury Benefit Scheme and pension (essentially, the Injury Benefit is means-tested against income from public monies, so whatever you get from pension would reduce the injury award). I'm not 100% familiar with the injury benefit scheme rules, but if you pursue this I suggest starting by confirming whether even if you were successful you would get anything given you will have significant pension coming in.

Q4 Is the CSIBS (if awarded) simply a top up to your monthly income or can it retrospectively compensate me for the costs described above and loss of earnings? Is it taxed?

As I recall, and with the caveat I may not be correct, it is an ongoing award of a % of your salary based on how much the injury has reduced your ability to work by, something like that. It is not taxable but is reduced by receipt of Civil Service pension, State Pension, etc.

Q5 Is the only option to retrieve some of these costs or seek compensation by means of Damages and solicitors etc?  (After years of ill health I haven't got anything left in the tank for that).

That is an option. The Injury Benefit Scheme is intended to reduce the need for litigation so best to explore that first.

Florence_Walker

Many thanks