In the event of permanent ill health, a former employee may receive their preserved benefits in full regardless of their age.
To be entitled to the immediate payment of preserved benefits on the grounds of ill health, the former employee must:
- be permanently incapable of carrying out the duties of their previous employment because of ill health or infirmity of mind or body.
Medical Practitioner
The member must be referred to a qualified Independent Registered Medical Practitioner (IRMP). They will assess them for potential ill health retirement, against the LGPS regulations.
The IRMP must provide:
- a completed OH3 certificate
and must not have:
- advised them before, or
- given an opinion on, or
- otherwise been involved
in the particular case for which the certificate has been requested.
Please contact Cornwall Pension Fund for an OH3 certificate.
Narrative Reports
The Pensions Ombudsman Service (TPOS) have highlighted the importance of employers in obtaining:
- a narrative report from the IRMP in dealing with ill-health retirement cases.
Narrative reports help employers to understand the reasoning behind the medical opinion the IRMP has given.
As the decision to award an ill-health retirement is that of the employer, a full understanding of the IRMP's reasoning will be important.
This minimises the risk of you:
- making a poor or flawed decision, resulting in a mal-administration claim from a member.
You should make it clear at the time of commissioning the IRMP to provide a medical opinion, that you need a narrative report
What you need
To enable you as the previous employer to consider the request from the former employee, you will need:
- Full details of the former employee's medical condition
- A consent for release of medical information form. This should be signed by the former employee and returned to the IRMP. This form can be obtained from the Cornwall Pension Fund
Implementing the decision to award ill health benefits
If the IRMP provides an opinion that the member meets the conditions set out in the LGPS regulations for ill-health retirement:
- you as the previous employer decides whether to award ill-health retirement benefits. This is according to the likelihood of your former employee undertaking any gainful employment in the future.
