Problems with a decision about ill health in retirement

To receive your pension early, you’ll need to provide your pension scheme or employer with details of your ill health/condition and why you’re no longer able to work. Your scheme provider will then consider your case and make a decision.

The decision-maker should:

• correctly use the scheme’s rules ask the right questions and apply the law correctly
• review all the evidence and consider all relevant information
• make a reasonable and fair decision
• provide a report detailing the reasons for their decision and the next steps in case you disagree with the decision.
  
  

If your request for ill health early retirement is refused, it’s possible to challenge a decision if one or more of the above was not followed.

If that’s the case, the decision-maker should reconsider. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will come to a different decision.

Although you lost your job because of your health, your eligibility for an ill health pension depends on the criteria in your scheme’s rules.

In some schemes even if you can’t do the job that you are/were doing due to ill health, if you’re still capable of doing ‘a job’ you might not fit their criteria. 

It’s common for there to be differences in medical opinions.

While your GP’s opinion is relevant, the decision-maker can also get their own medical opinion and choose the one they think is most appropriate.

What’s important is that they make their decisions properly. For example, they should ask the right questions if they need clarification from medical experts.

There’s no requirement for a medical adviser to meet you. That would be down to their professional judgement.

What is important is that the decision-maker makes their decision in line with the principles above.