so many peaple friends and a few advisors of different origins, have given me lots of well intentioned advice not tried CAB yet thou!
so what I need to know is other folks thoughts?? was advised to go for PIP, all that seems to have done is take my high mob low person indeffinate DLA of 15 yrs away all i want to do is retire, unless i can get one of those magic pils
thankx in advance julien x
Hi Julien,
What are retiring from? If you’re talking about state benefits, I think it’s a case of applying for ESA until you reach normal retirement age (but yes, the CAB could help you).
If you have any personal or occupational pension plans, you can apply directly to the pension administrator to request the benefits early.
Good luck
Sonia x
Julien,
If you happen to work for an organisation with a HR department and you are paying into a company pension plan then you can contact them to discuss early retirement on medical grounds. Naturally, there will be a procedure to follow as with all such things.
HR will determine what your possible entitlements will be, in the form of a lump sum and an annual pension, and arrange for you to see an independent doctor. Some organisations have their own Occupational Health departments who will see you.
Once the ball is rolling the independent doctor will consult your consultant neurologist and your case will be referred for further independent assessment. Your entitlement will be assessed against two tiers and your award will be calculated accordingly. The tiers refer to your ability to carry out your normal duties. You can find explanations on various websites.
That is roughly how it works and it can take months to reach a decision. If you belong to a trade union they can be very helpful.
I am going through the initial stages of this process myself. Your circumstances, of course, may be totally different and the above may not be remotely relevant.
Best wishes
Yup, Alun is right on his advice except CAB that can be a long drawn out affair. If you get an Ill Health Pension (IHP) speak on phone to http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/ that is a free Government service.
If you are to receive an IHP my advice is do not cash any in for a lump sum if circumstances allow. Depending on your age you may need to upkeep a regular income; but the choice is yours.
You can also get a projection of your state pension when you are 65 from them.
George
thankx to all for gud advice and www address it makes it all sound loads more clear, but at the risk of sounding stupid! who decides on the I.H.R and where does that fit in with P,I.P? which im in the grips of M.R? Oh joy! ,NOT!,
Julien
Only your employer and the trustees of the pension scheme can decide on IHR, and it depends entirely on your contract of employment, and whether there is even provision for such a thing.
As far as the state is concerned, there is no such thing as IHR, and it’s entirely between you and your employer - it’s got nothing to do with PIP, and there is no provision to start collecting your state (i.e. non-workplace) pension before normal state retirement age.
The only way IHR will affect state benefits at all is that if you are on means tested benefits, any income may be taken into account, and may lessen your entitlement. That would include drawing a work pension early because you’ve retired due to ill health.
PIP’s not means tested anyway, and is in fact available to people who are still working, so your employment status has nothing to do with PIP - or shouldn’t have. Paradoxically, although there is no barrier to claiming it whilst working, they may try to use the fact somebody still works as evidence they cannot really be very disabled. But other than that, there’s no connection. PIP’s only concerned with whether you meet the disability criteria - not with how much money you have, or whether it comes from work, an ill health pension, or anywhere else.
Tina
Sorry - I forgot - assuming your terms provide for it, IHR will usually only be available from work following a period of long-term sickness absence, and a general consensus it’s unlikely you will ever get well enough to return. Very few people go from full time working, not off sick, to suddenly being granted IHR. Usually they have to be satisfied you cannot possibly continue in your job, and, depending on the rules of the pension scheme, in some cases they need to be satisfied you could not realistically do any job - not just the one you’ve been doing.
When you think about it, the whole point of an early pension is to compensate for the fact you’ve had to stop work. So it stands to reason they may not be happy to pay out if you’re well enough to take another job - even a less demanding one than you’ve had.
Tina