Leaving OSPS

What happens if I become ill and cannot continue working?

If you become so ill that:

• You have ceased to carry out your present employment; or
• You are likely to be permanently incapable of continuing in your present employment; and
• You are likely to be incapable of taking up any other paid employment (including self-employment) at a similar rate of pay;

Then you may be able to leave service with an immediate pension and cash lump sum. The Trustees and your Employer must agree to this after considering medical evidence.

Please note that even if your employer thinks you are no longer capable of carrying out your present employment this does not mean the Trustees will automatically grant ill health retirement.

How do I apply for ill health retirement?

You should contact the Pensions Officer (OSPS) for an application form, which you should complete and return. The form asks you to give the names and addresses of a GP and consultant who will give medical evidence relevant to your application. The Trustees will only consider an application for ill health retirement if there is a consultant’s opinion.

The Pensions Officer will then contact your employer and ask them to send a job description and to sign a form confirming that they support your application. After that your doctors will be approached and their reports will be sent to the General Purposes Committee of the OSPS Trustees for their consideration.

If the medical evidence is not clear or contradictory the Trustees will either ask for further information from your doctor or ask their independent medical adviser to consider the application.

If your application is successful both you and your employer will have to agree a retirement date. If your application is unsuccessful you can appeal against the decision using the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure.

You should be aware that ill health retirement applications can take a long time to resolve.

How is an ill health retirement pension calculated?

If you have been an active member of OSPS for at least two years your ill health pension will be worked out as:

• 1/80th x Final Pensionable Salary x Prospective Pensionable Service

Prospecive pensionable service will include the service that you could have completed if you had remained an active member of OSPS up to your Normal Retirement Date.

Your cash lump sum is usually equal to three times the annual rate of your pension on retirement.

If you have completed or been credited with less than two years’ pensionable service, your ill health pension will be calculated in the same way as described above, but using the pensionable service you have completed when you leave service. Your cash sum will be equal to three times the annual rate of your pension on retirement.

If you leave service as a result of a medical condition that was known to you or your employer at the time you became an active member of OSPS, and you have been an active member for less than five years, any pension payable will be based only on the actual pensionable service you will have completed when you leave service.

What happens if I am terminally ill?

If your doctors certify that you have less than 12 months to live you have the option to take all of your benefits in the form of a cash lump sum. If you do this you will not receive a monthly pension from OSPS and your dependants will not normally be entitled to receive a pension after your death. However, your spouse or civil partner will be entitled to receive the spouse's Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) element of the state pension scheme that relates to their OSPS membership. If you are in this situation please contact the Pensions Officer (OSPS) for further information regarding your options.

What happens to my ill health pension if my circumstances change?

The Trustees have the power to reduce, suspend or end your ill health pension if, in their opinion, your health improves sufficiently to enable you to undertake paid work before normal retirement date. You must inform the Pensions Office if you take up paid employment or self-employment after ill health retirement.

Every three years the Trustees will ask pensioners under 60 receiving an ill health pension to confirm whether or not they are now working. As a general rule, if you are earning more than half of the salary you would have been on, had you continued working in the post from which you retired, then the Trustees will review payment of your pension. Depending on the level of your new earnings your pension could be reduced or suspended.