State pension/ill health retirement?

TomsMom

I wonder if anyone can help me with this please.

My husband is 61 and has been self-employed for 14 years. He has no major pension plan other than a small amount due from a previous employment possibly amounting to about £25 per week. He was invalided out of the fire service many years ago after only 6 years service and has a small pension from that too.

He has just been diagnosed with a rare cancer which is incurable and which has a poor prognosis with a median survival of 2 to 4.5 years and with only 25% of these patients surviving 5 years or more. He is to start chemotherapy next week.

He is seeing our GP on Friday with a view to obtaining a sick note and should hopefully be entitled to Incapacity Benefit.

I have a couple of questions.

Firstly, is there any way that he can apply for his state retirement pension at the moment (aged 61) - chances are he will not make it to 65.

If not is there anything other than Incapacity Benefit that he may claim?

I already draw my retirement pension as I was 60 in January.

He is contacting Legal & General as he has critical illness cover for the mortgage (which is due to finish in 16 months time and is not for a great amount) but has a dreadful feeling that he wont be covered. He thinks terminal cancer may be covered but even though his is incurable it may not be classed as terminal because he hasn't been given X number of months/years.

Has anyone any experience of this or any ideas? Thank you.

McKneff

My husband has been retired through ill health for 7 years now and gets
the lower Disability Allowance, there is a higher DLA allowance which
it is worth applying for. there is also a special part of the form which
gets the decision through quickly if cancer is involved. Ring the DSS
asap. Incapacity benefit should be payable also whether self employed or not.
My husband receives about 102. per week

No state pension is given till 65 so thats a no no.

EdInvestor

Men can apply for pension credit from age 60.

Also worth checking to see if any of the pensions will pay out a lump sum on the basis of the terminal diagnosis.

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote: »

Men can apply for pension credit from age 60.

Yes, but that isn't state retirement pension, is it?

Also worth checking to see if any of the pensions will pay out a lump sum on the basis of the terminal diagnosis.

Yes, DLA can be 'fast-tracked' in the case of a terminal diagnosis.

HTH

zzzLazyDaisy

margaretclare wrote: »

Yes, DLA can be 'fast-tracked' in the case of a terminal diagnosis.

HTH

Firstly, so sorry to hear of your bad news.

The 'fast track' procedure for DLA only applies to people with a terminal illness who are not expected to live more than 6 months. HOWEVER if the person is lucky, and does live for more than 6 months, DLA carries on paying. Your GP has to sign a short form confirming he is terminally ill and not expected to live for more than 6 months. There is also a provision for someone else to make the claim and for DLA not to disclose the GP's report to them, if that would cause the person distress.

Contact DLA straight away and make the claim. It is a good idea to get a CAB or welfare rights adviser to help you fill in the form as they can be complicated.

Good luck

CIS

State Pension cannot be taken at any point prior to your official state pension age

questsl

Sorry about your news, not sure if they would be able to help you in any way but have you checked out https://www.firefighterscharity.org.uk?

TomsMom

questsl wrote: »

Sorry about your news, not sure if they would be able to help you in any way but have you checked out https://www.firefighterscharity.org.uk?

Thanks questsl. We forgot about the help that the fire service and associated charities offer. It would be an idea to look into facilities offered for recuperation between bouts of chemo. Thanks so much.

TomsMom

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

The 'fast track' procedure for DLA only applies to people with a terminal illness who are not expected to live more than 6 months. HOWEVER if the person is lucky, and does live for more than 6 months, DLA carries on paying.

Thanks LazyDaisy. Although this cancer is incurable it has not been stated to be terminal. Presumably because of the median survival time and that there's a chance that within that time research may bring about another drug which could help.

I don't think DLA is going to come into it.

He has been given a sick note for 3 months and can claim incapacity benefit, and the GP will continue to issue sick notes, no problem there.

We are in the process of selling our restaurant so when the sale is completed (hopefully within the next couple of months) then he will be unemployed.

The hospital is 50 miles away and we were hoping to get help with travelling costs but our savings are over the limit of £8,000 (I think). Shame as he has already been once a week for the last 4 weeks, twice this week, and starting next week it will be monthly or even fortnightly if they want to keep a closer eye on him.

zzzLazyDaisy

Just to be clear - DLA (disability living allowance) is not just for terminally ill people. It is for anyone who has an illness that means they need extra help with personal care, or mobility. For example someone who was pretty much able to look after themselves, but could not cook a main meal for themselves - perhaps because of exhaustion due to the illness or the treatment - would still get low rate DLA care component.

People with a terminal illness get fast-tracked, whereas someone with care or mobility needs but who is not considered to be terminal would go through the normal application process and that takes longer, but nevertheless it is still worth claiming.

DLA is not means tested so your income/savings are not taken into account. Also if he gets DLA it is not taken into account as income when assessing other benefits.

It really is worth putting in a claim, as he may get worse over time and if you are already getting DLA, even at the low rate, you can then apply for an increase.

TomsMom

Thanks LazyDaisy. We are seeing the social worker at the hospital next week when he starts his chemo so this is something we can look into with him. Thanks for pointing this out to me as I was wrongly under the impression that it was only for terminal (short-term) illness.