RPSM08100070 - Technical Pages: Pension age: Ill-health

Ill-health

A member may take benefits at any age where the scheme administrator accepts qualified medical advice to the effect that the member satisfies the ill-health condition, and so is and will continue to be, medically incapable (either physically or mentally) as a result of

• injury,
• sickness,
• disease, or
• disability

of continuing his or her current occupation and as a result of the ill-health ceases to carry on the occupation.

Whilst the legislation refers to being incapable of carrying on the member’s current occupation, scheme rules may of course be much stricter in determining the ill-health criteria. For example, they may state that the member must be incapable of carrying out any occupation, rather than the current occupation that they are in.

Unlike other kinds of pensions that have to be paid for life and have controls on whether they reduce, an ill health scheme pension may be reduced or stopped at any time. After such a change it may later recommence or increase back to the earlier rate or to some intermediate amount. Typically schemes will have rules to take advantage of such a facility in order to cover situations where a member subsequently recovers or partially recovers from ill-health, and they want to provide a level of pension appropriate to the member’s capacity to carry out their occupation. For further information see RPSM09101520.

Such a recommenced pension would not be treated as a BCE2, provided that there had been no further benefit accrual in respect of any period of re-employment. See RPSM11104460.

Any ill-health pension which was already in payment on 5 April 2006 will be treated as if it had met the conditions set out in RPSM09101520 and any payments will not be treated as unauthorised.