Retiring on ill health

Retiring on ill health
If you have 3 months’ membership, your employer can award you ill health benefits at any age, as long as you meet various conditions. In assessing this, they will consult a specially qualified doctor, and will then make various decisions about the impact of your condition on your own job and your capability for other gainful employment.

A 3 tier system
To retire you on ill health, your employer must decide that you are permanently unable to do your own job and not immediately capable of other gainful employment. If so, you will be awarded ill health benefits – in other words benefits without any early retirement reductions, and in some cases, based on extra membership too.

There are 3 ill health tiers, and in deciding which tier you fall into, your employer must consider how capable of gainful employment you would be now and in the future.

Tier 1
No reasonable prospect of being capable of gainful employment now or at any age before age 65. You will get a pension and normally a lump sum based on the membership you have built up so far PLUS all the extra membership you would have built up if you had remained a member to age 65.

Tier 2
Not capable of gainful employment now or at any time in the next 3 years, but likely to be capable of gainful employment before age 65.You will get a pension and normally a lump sum based on the membership you have built up so far PLUS 25% of the extra membership you would have built up if you had remained a member to age 65.

Tier 3
Not capable of gainful employment now, but likely to be capable in the next 3 years.You will get your lump sum (if applicable) to keep. But your pension will only be paid for a limited time, and will be reviewed after 18 months.

It will stop either:

As soon as you take up gainful employment again
If recommended at the 18 month review, or
After 3 years has passed

Ill health FAQs
Click here if you are part time

Back