Advice needed to appeal for early ill health retirement

[Jeannie]

After months of waiting I have been refused my pension with no indicator of why or what was put forward for consideration. I now need to appeal. My conditions are fibromyalgia, Arthralgia hypothyroidism n coccydynia Please help if U can.

[Cookie72]

Hi jeannie, how are you, afraid I can't help you, I don't know how things work now, I'm 73 this year and a lot of things have altered, but I'm sure some one will be on soon that can help you out...gentle hugs....Dee x

[TheAuthor]

Hi Jeannie

I sincerely hope that you are feeling as well as you possibly can be today? I am so sorry to read that you are having this problem. I presume this is a works pension? If so, I was wondering if you had a union where you work / used to work? As maybe you could get somebody from your union to represent you?

Or is it state pension? And the argument is you haven't contributed enough NI? Again, if so, you could approach the Citizens Advice Bureau?

I do not know how old your are, and it is prudent to never ask a lady her age! But if you are at retirement age itself you can apply for 'Attendance Allowance'. If you are seeking early retirement, then I would definitely get some legal advice and / or somebody to represent you at your tribunal.

I want to wish you the best of luck with your tribunal and please keep us all up to date with how you get on?

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken x

[Jeannie in reply to TheAuthor]

Thanks Ken. I will contact the Union but have little faith I'm afraid. Guess the other thing is having been unwell for along time has impacted on my confidence!, thanks again, appreciate your response

[TheAuthor in reply to Jeannie]

Hi Jeannie

Just want to wish you all the best of luck with this. I can genuinely understand your confidence being shot to shreds, but please remember that you are a unique individual and deserve the same respect and rights as everybody else, you have earned them!

Take care

Ken x

[lynzard]

Good morning Jeannie,

I am so sorry to hear about your ill health retirement application being refused. Did you work for a local authority? If so I know that you can appeal but I don't know about other employers. My application was recently agreed (after jumping through lots of hoops!) It was such a relief, you must feel very stressed and worried. If you did work for local authority please feel free to contact me if you like - pm me if you prefer.

Hope your day will be ok. xxx

[Lruk]

Hi Jeannie, I don't know how much help I will be as I am going through the process of getting all the paperwork ready to apply for medical retirement.

The one thing my occ health doctor said to me was that everything possible must have been tried before the application would be considered. For me that includes counselling as well as all the medication and anything else physical that could be tried. The reason for this was that there was research available that stated that talking therapies can have a positive impact on a fibro sufferer when used in conjunction with the relevant medications. I do work for a local authority and it was my occupational health service that initially suggested medical retirement.

I don't know if this is something that you have tried or whether it was even suggested to you as a possibility but it may be something worth considering. Good luck. Linda

[Jeannie in reply to Lruk]

Thanx. I applied off my own back as Manager said we were going through the dismissal route. Occ health said they would need to dismiss me for my application to be successful.

[TheAuthor in reply to Lruk]

Hi Lruk

I just want to wish you luck also with your early retirement application, good luck my friend.

Take care

Ken x

[lclem01]

do you have a union rep get them involved i did i only got 3 tier payment and its up for review soon you just have to keep fighting which isent easy but i wish you well x

[Jeannie in reply to lclem01]

Thanks I'd be grateful for anything just need a cushion!!!

[Dexmar13]

Hi Jeannie,

I too have been refused my ill health pension I worked for the nhs. I'm just appealing now. When I put in for it I hadn't been diagnosed with fibromyalgia I have now I also have osterotheritis in my spine and hands . I had been redeployed into another rolbut was unable to do that job either because of pain and memory ect. They refused my pension saying I was more likely to be able to do my job than not with medical treatment what treatment they mean I have no idea as iv had everything there is. I have wrote and asked who the medical adverse was and what treatment he thinks will help me !!! As please let me know as il have it as at the age of 54 I would rather work than not.... Iv sent another letter from my pain management and rheumatologist to appeal I'm praying that this will help but I think what they really want is for our consultant to say we can not work at all before pension age but don't think they can not sure. It's very stressful and annoying as some pen pusher is making a decision on my life on what I'm capable of without seeing me.... Good luck il let you know how things go hope goes well for you but no matter how you feel don't give up till you can't do anymore much love Jude x

[Jeannie in reply to Dexmar13]

Thanks Jude

[jayfer in reply to Dexmar13]

hi, can you get preserved benefits? I did, and am fighting for ill health pension as that's what I thought I'd applied for originally, but they gave me the wrong forms!!

[TheAuthor in reply to Dexmar13]

Hi jplascje

I just wanted to wish you the best of luck as well with your early retirement application. I am so sorry that you didn't get first time around but hopefully something goo will happen this time!

Take care

Ken

[janebradshaw in reply to Dexmar13]

Hi....hope it's ok to reply so long after you posted. I'm going through the appeals process for my nhs ill health retirement. How did it work out for you?... I'm 2 days off the deadline and have been going to he'll and back with anxiety about it. It's been 6 months now since I first applied.. thanks

[spiro]

Hi, Jeannie. Don't know if this is any help, but when I put in for early retirement from my local authority, it was initially refused because they said there could be a psychological or social reason for my illness. I was then sent to a psychologist for a medical assessment. He said I was fit to work part time. Fortunately for me, both my GP & my employers disagreed with his assessment , so my employer then paid for me to be assessed by a psychiatrist, who supported my claim. All this took another year to go thro', but I got there in the end. I was lucky, tho', as my employer was on my side & I also had union support. Don't give up. They'll do anything to avoid paying you!

[jayfer]

hi, I have been fighting for mine for 5 years !! I have got early access to preserved benefits due to ill health now but am still fighting for all pension to be released due to ill health. I went to the Pensions Advisory Service for assistance. They were unsuccessful in getting a response so now it is with the Pensions Ombudsman who have agreed to take on my case. You need a specialist to say it is unlikely you would be able to return to work before the age of 65 I believe. I have 1 but it is not dated for Dec 08 which was when I was finished but April 10. That's how I got preserved benefits. Sorry for the long reply, but please don't give up. PM me if you want to know more ,good luck xx

[TheAuthor in reply to jayfer]

Hi jayfer

I just wanted to wish you luck with getting your pension funds, good luck and will be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Take care

Ken

[jayfer in reply to TheAuthor]

thank you. I have had a letter from ombudsman saying they will take my case on but- what I didn't know is- even if they decide in my favour they still cannot make the council pay the pension. I thought their decision was final. In cases of pension apparently not.

Jackie

[TheAuthor in reply to jayfer]

Sorry to read that jayfer, I think that is so unfair! I sometimes think that councils are a law unto themselves.

Take care

Ken

[realsorelady]

I didn't get early health retirement because my conditions were still been assessed by specialists etc, so I feel I missed out, I did get compensation payment which was tax free. At the time it was a god send because I was in dire straits. Just make sure you have someone from union or a good rep to help you.

[releasethemagic]

I have been through the medical retirement process and was eventually successful but you have to research the process well. It's important to understand what the criteria are that the scheme has to apply to its medical retirement cases. These should be published. If the scheme is a public sector scheme, a Freedom of information request will get you the details if you cannot find them anywhere. In the private sector, it can be harder to find out but most trustees will let you have the information, if you ask.

Then you have to make sure that the evidence you supply fulfils the criteria. If they need medical reports that are up-to-date, you need to supply them. This may mean paying for them. GP reports on their own are rarely successful. Specialist reports receive more attention. The pension scheme may still send you to an Occupational Health specialist. That is what happened to me. They then wrote a report and fortunately for me, it recommended medical retirement. Their role is to get people back to work though, so the medical evidence you gather before this, has to be strong and convincing.

[alihetherington]

Hello Jeanne

I know your poat was a while ago but can you help me with advice on what you did to get your application accepted? Plz email me on [e-mail]

Kind regards

Alison Hetherington