Ill health retirement

Ill-health retirement and pensions advice

Ill health retirement is when a person's employment is terminated early as a result of their ill health. It allows them to get their pension benefits before the normal retirement age. 

We provide medical assessments which determine whether an employee's ill-health is permanent.  This will establish if ill-health is appropriate for the employee.

We also have pension specialists, who advise on whether a pension scheme member meets the criteria for ill-health retirement. We offer general medical advice to scheme trustees and facilitate appeals processes when they are required. We provide a fair, independent and robust medical opinion which takes into account the pension schemes' specific rules and regulations.

We provide over 10,000 reports each year for both private and public sector pension schemes. In addition, we provide paper-based reviews and face-to-face appointments for:

  • Entry to the pension scheme
  • Ill-health and medical retirement
  • Injury benefits
  • Ad-hoc issues relating to pension schemes.

We provide pension's appeal processes and boards as well as ill-health retirement seminars for line managers.

Medical assessments
Medical assessments

To make sure your employees are physically fit for work, we carry out a full range of health screenings and medical assessments.

The most common causes of long-term absence are acute medical conditions (for example stroke, heart attack and cancer), musculoskeletal injuries, stress, mental ill-health and back pain. 

CIPD Absence Survey 2010.