Ill health retirement declined by Medigold. Any advice on appeal ?

[Pat "5mph"]

I'm not well enough to work anyway - I would have eventually been dismissed.

No way in a million years!
There are procedures, you should have gone on the sick again and again, on and off, till they retired you on grounds of ill health.
I've seen it happen a few times.
Too late now, I guess 🤗

 

[midlife]

I'm not employed anymore. I retired on ill health grounds !

Ok I guess you filled in the notorious NHS pension form AW8 and claimed your pension early …

And then went back to NHS pensions to claim more pension on health grounds ?

 

[kingrollo]

No way in a million years!
There are procedures, you should have gone on the sick again and again, on and off, till they retired you on grounds of ill health.
I've seen it happen a few times.
Too late now, I guess 🤗

That's pretty much what did happen. I had been off sick for 14 months.

 

[kingrollo]

Ok I guess you filled in the notorious NHS pension form AW8 and claimed your pension early …

And then went back to NHS pensions to claim more pension on health grounds ?

No I claimed ill health first. But then claimed my reduced pension when they declined. I would have had no income otherwise.

 

[richardfm]

No not in a union.

I see so many posts on various social media channels where the correct advice is "talk to your union". Everyone who is working should be in a union.
It's too late for you, but hopefully others reading this will benefit.

 

[midlife]

No I claimed ill health first. But then claimed my reduced pension when they declined. I would have had no income otherwise.

Sorry. I am confused. If you claimed for release from your NHS contract of employment because of ill health and was refused you would still be employed.

Why would you have no income ?

I’m just unsure why you decided to resign and claim your pension

 

[Drago]

I see so many posts on various social media channels where the correct advice is "talk to your union". Everyone who is working should be in a union.
It's too late for you, but hopefully others reading this will benefit.

It isn't automatically the case that anyone will benefit when they need union help or guidance. When Mrs D needed them at work they were somewhere south of s***e, and I ended up paying for advice from someone that knew what they were talking about. She won easily at the tribunal the union had told us she had no chance of winning and refused to further advise upon or fund. Two years salary and costs more than compensated for the wasted union dues she has paid across the years.

The closest thing to a union I had was the Police Federation, and they were useless to put it politely. Its only by chance I stumbled upon the IODPA who funded proper legal advice.

If you're in a sticky situation at work and need advice or guidance go to someone qualified to give it - a poorly trained amateur who's done a 3 days course (if theyre lucky) and is working at the same organisation full time while also working P/T as a union rep almost certainly isn't going to be it.

 

[kynikos]

My reading is that, rather than continue in employment and seek an ill health retirement, all agreed prior to retirement, the OP resigned and then sought to have his pension upgraded on the grounds of ill health and inability to work. It seems to me that, if so, this course of action was unwise as all the leverage had whilst still employed is gone. Having resigned, the option of saying (when refused) "OK, I'll carry on working, but off sick, and let's see where that gets us" is no longer there.

The options for the employer are then:
1. Disciplinary on capability grounds leading to termination or
2. Retirement on ill-health grounds

For an employee with a short tenure then 1. is the more likely scenario but where service of 30 years is the case (OP?) then 2. would be the more probable outcome. But that ship has sailed...

 

[kynikos]

Union were great for me, and I wasn't even a member. HSBC decreed being in a union was incompatible with being a manager so I wasn't allowed to be in one. They still got involved and pretty much saved my skin. I got my ill health retirement with 50% added years so my pension was paid immediately and based on 36 years of service rather than the 24 I had.

 

[Punkawallah]

Fun fact. American insurance claim settlement numbers rose after an insurance executive was brutally murdered by an unhappy customer. Who says they don’t have feelings?

 

[All uphill]

When I retired early from local government it was made clear to me that the terms I agreed for end pay, pension, etc were final, and not subject to amendment.

It took me and the pensions department 10 attempts before we reached a figure that was accurate

Incidentally a part time colleague got a pension offer based on the assumption that they worked full time. Therefore double their entitlement. They still receive it fifteen years later.

 

[kingrollo]

For Clarification.

I approached my employer about I'll health retirement. I was interviewed by the hospital doctor who agreed to support my case for ill health retirement. This is quite separate from claiming your pension benefits from NHS pensions - although they will consider the occupational health report the decision is quite separate.

The hospital do not pay any of many pension - it is paid by NHS pensions so whether it is granted or not makes no odds to the hospital where I work.

I had been off sick 14 months - so choice was either agree a mutual termination. Or be dismissed on ill health grounds. I chose the former .

Hope that clarifies everything.

This thread is really if anyone has any dealings with Medigold.

 

[kingrollo]

My reading is that, rather than continue in employment and seek an ill health retirement, all agreed prior to retirement, the OP resigned and then sought to have his pension upgraded on the grounds of ill health and inability to work. It seems to me that, if so, this course of action was unwise as all the leverage had whilst still employed is gone. Having resigned, the option of saying (when refused) "OK, I'll carry on working, but off sick, and let's see where that gets us" is no longer there.

The options for the employer are then:
1. Disciplinary on capability grounds leading to termination or
2. Retirement on ill-health grounds

For an employee with a short tenure then 1. is the more likely scenario but where service of 30 years is the case (OP?) then 2. would be the more probable outcome. But that ship has sailed...

Incorrect .

1 + 2 are the same financially from the employer.

The difference is whether or not you get an uplift from NHS pensions. This is quite separate from what's agreed by the employer

Thus you can retire on the grounds of ill health. But still fail the NHS pensions criteria for uplifted pension benefits.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Incorrect .

1 + 2 are the same financially from the employer.

The difference is whether or not you get an uplift from NHS pensions. This is quite separate from what's agreed by the employer

Thus you can retire on the grounds of ill health. But still fail the NHS pensions criteria for uplifted pension benefits.

Am I right in saying that if you were granted the discretionary uplift it would essentially 'fill in' the lost years you were prevented from working due to ill health?

 

[midlife]

No I claimed ill health first. But then claimed my reduced pension when they declined. I would have had no income otherwise.

Did Medigold fail to even put you in tier 1. ?