AW33 Application for Consideration for Ill Health Retirement for Active Members

Your pension will be paid into your bank account monthly on a regular date specified by the Paymaster (in England and Wales). An initial decision can be made in four weeks but may take longer. If any doubt is expressed, the application will be refused or deferred. Contact us if your employer intends to terminate your contract.

AW33 – Application for Consideration for Ill Health Retirement for Active Members

If not, you should discuss your IHR application with occupational health, human resources, and your manager before your contract is terminated. The initial test is that you are unable to perform effectively the duties of your employment due to permanent ill-health (Tier 1). The RCN cannot make a recommendation about whether you will qualify for ill-health retirement (IHR), nor which tier you may be awarded. Please ensure the correct version of the application form is used and sent to NHS Pensions to consider. Non-compliance with the regulations surrounding the Ill health-AW33E can result in significant penalties, including the potential denial of benefits or required repayment of any prematurely awarded benefits. Eligibility for submitting the Ill health-AW33E hinges on several critical factors related to employment status, health conditions, and previous assessments by occupational health services.

Member benefits

NHS pension is regarded as income for the purposes of assessing PIB. Your pension is as above but with an enhancement equivalent to 2/3rds of your prospective service to normal benefit age, or 1/2 prospective service if you are in the 2015 section of the scheme. You are advised not to do this as you will relinquish any potential entitlement to contractual notice pay or accrued annual leave. Getting the timings right in your application can feel difficult.

You can find lots of information about working after IHR on the NHS BSA website. Read more about your registration and working with ill-health on the NMC’s website. Starting work after any period of unemployment (whether voluntary or not) can be daunting.

  • Your pension will be paid into your bank account monthly on a regular date specified by the Paymaster (in England and Wales).
  • This claim can be made at the same time as your IHR application.
  • Your pension is as above but with an enhancement equivalent to 2/3rds of your prospective service to normal benefit age, or 1/2 prospective service if you are in the 2015 section of the scheme.

If you are terminally ill and do not expect to live longer than a year, you can apply to exchange all of your ill-health benefits for a one-off (usually tax-free) lump sum payment. Increasingly, NHS employers are trying to avoid termination of contract on grounds of ill-health capability and are encouraging staff to resign once they have been accepted for IHR. It is only when your employer terminates your contract that you may be able to receive full pay during your notice period. You will receive a letter explaining how your pension has been calculated, including any enhancement payable, which you should check against any estimate you have previously received. It cannot be paid until your contract has been terminated, and will be backdated to your termination date or date of application (whichever is later). You should not rely on evidence being provided only by your GP, as the scheme’s medical advisers are unlikely to accept this as sufficiently robust evidence of permanent incapacity for work.

These include comprehensive medical reports, a detailed description of the limitations caused by the health condition, and any prior evaluations by occupational health practitioners. By completing this form, members can either apply for a Tier 1 benefit, which supports individuals who can’t do their current job, or a Tier 2 benefit, for those unable to undertake any employment. We will review the form to check it is fully completed, add the required information and send it to NHS Pensions for their medical advisors to assess. If you become too ill to work, and have not reached normal pensionable age, you may be able to retire and take your pension benefits. Find out more about pensions abatement in our general pensions guide.

If you are in receipt of Tier 2 IHR benefits and you take further employment and you are then earning more than the Lower Earnings Limit, your benefits will be reduced to Tier 1. The Pensions Ombudsman will usually expect you to have gone through the two appeal stages outlined above before they will look into a case. As such, there may be the need to request an extension of time in order to offer the appeal the best chance of success.

Note that it is no longer possible to request payment of an actuarially reduced early retirement pension when appealing Tier 1 decisions. If you are no longer in NHS service but want to apply for an ill-health pension, you can apply directly to the relevant NHS pensions agency. If you have provided sufficient medical evidence, this will happen automatically and you will automatically be awarded a Tier 2 pension. Once the pensions agency has received the AW8 form, it will usually take approximately 8-12 weeks before you will receive your pension.

NHS Pensions will contact you to confirm if you qualify for ill health pension benefits. If you are self-employed and worried about the effects of your income on your ill-health retirement pension, seek tailored advice. Any earnings you have from employment https://aw33-nepal.com/ne/login will be taxable, this includes your pension if you receive one. In addition, at any time during your appeal process you can ask Money and Pensions Service (MaPs) for assistance. If you live in England, there is no time limit to submit a first stage appeal.

However, if you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must complete form DRP1 within 1 month of the original decision. As the ‘burden of proof’ rests on the appellant it is your responsibility to gather all the evidence you consider (or are advised) is necessary to mount an appeal. If this is granted you will not receive any enhancement and will only be paid a pension based on the contributions that you have made. Payment of an occupational pension does not impact on any Industrial Injuries Disablement benefit you receive from the DWP.