Disability and public sector pension, calling boffins.

[jackh707]

Ok, Mrs X is a 54 year old teacher and has been teaching for over 30 years.
She has a chronic progressive hearing impairment that has been classed as severe (71-90db loss.)
This makes communication difficult in her job, and is very difficult as a teacher.
Mrs X is teaches outside the classroom so is unable to benefit from any proposed induction loop systems if ever available.
She is finding teaching very difficult due to this disability and wishes to retire in the near future.
She has been told she will receive 3 months notice when her employers believe she is unable to teach anymore.

Is she entitled to an enhanced pension due to being unable to work through disability if she retires early?

Any help appreciated.

[The Leaper]

Maybe a boffin here!

Like all UK pension plans, the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) contains separate early retirement and ill health early retirement provisions. Dealing with early retirement first, your wife may be able to simply apply for this and if her application is successful she will receive her accrued pension then reduced for the years of early payment.

Ill health early retirment is much more problematic. Your wife must apply for this and then she will be independently assessed by an appropriately qualified medical professional, appointed by Teachers Pensions (this is the name of the organisation that administers the TPS), and if the assessor can certify that your wife is permanently incapable of being able to carry on working up to her normal retirment date (60th birthday), the word permanently being all important here, then her employer has to decide whether or not they will agree to pay her the ill health early retirement pension. If they do, she is likely to get her full pension calculated after allowing for all service up to normal retirement date and without any reduction for early payment. However, it is not that easy to have a successful application because, for example:

• what her GP tells her and what the independent assessor thinks may be differnet and the latter's views will prevail.

• if she is receiving any State benefits the qualifications are easier than getting her ill health pension so just because she's getting her State benefit has only a modest influence of her employer's decision.

• it's the employer who makes the decision and here's the biggest problem: if the employer agrees then they will be required to pay up front into the TPS the cost of their decision, which can be serious money. Where is that money going to come from? Hence a general reluctance for employers to agree to an application.

Note that if your wife's employer approaches her and suggests she should consider giving up work because she is having difficulty meeting their requirements due to disability, her employer must also make her aware that the TPS has ill health early retirement provisions, and failure to do so is a breach of pension requirements. Note too that having brought this to your wife's attention does not mean at all that the employer will accept an application from her for ill health early retirment pension benefit.

TPS has its own website here:

http://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/

Look on the right of the front page and you'll see a link to ill health early retirement benefits and some improtant details. As you wife is a member of TPS I assume she can access the members pages and get full information etc.

Good luck. If you need more help just ask.

R.

[jackh707]

Thank you for the rapid reply, lots of good information there. Will pass it on and let you know how things go, already had some form of formal hearing, no pun intended and no mention of TPS though we are aware of it, shall be interesting.
It's my mum, not my wife btw.