Ill health retirement, I think I see the finish line

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slomo
slomo Member Posts: 180
edited 30. Jan 2017, 17:43 in Benefits and Working Matters archive
Hi everyone, hope you're all keeping well.
The saga of my ill health retirement application continues but I'm hopeful now that the end is in sight.
On 17/1 my manager phoned me to say that a OH meeting had been arranged for me with the OH doctor following them receiving the report from my consultant. This put me in a panic as I really couldn't see what benefit a face to face meeting could bring. The next day my manager phoned again and said that I didn't need to attend the meeting as OH would come to a decision from the report. I was so very relieved to hear that, I think this whole thing has been causing a persistent low level of stress and I didn't realise how much until I realised just how relieved I was not to have to attend another meeting.
On Thursday 26/1 my manager phoned me again asking if I'd seen the OH report and when I said no, he emailed it to me. I'm so very relieved to see that it says that OH opinion is that I meet the criteria for a Tier One award, basically I'm not able to do my current job and am unlikely to be able to before my pension age nor am I likely to be able to find other employment before my pension age, (September 2018). This means I should get my full pension.
My manager says the next step is for HR to contact me re pension details and find out if I'm happy to accept it. I'll not have a big pension, less than 20 years and half of that I've been working part-time so every little helps. Hopefully it won't be long now until things are settled, it's been a long haul. It was 26th August when I first said I'd like to apply for ill health retirement and it was 26/1 when I so the OH final report so exactly 5months to reach that point. I'm just pleased that things seem to be nearing a conclusion.
All the best to everyone, slomo

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  • nearlybionic
    nearlybionic Member Posts: 1,899
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi Slomo
    I am pleased for you that your ill health retirement is going through. Do you work for the NHS? I am asking as I do and am going to try a return to work this week, but if I struggle I may need to look at this too.
    I hope that your stress levels have lessened and you can relax and take care of yourself now without this worry.
    NB
  • slomo
    slomo Member Posts: 180
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi NB, I work for the local council, I'm first point of contact for queries. We deal with everything from queries about social services to building warrants to registering births and deaths. We handover these queries to the relevant section and we also deal with queries about things like house repairs, waste collection, benefits and bus passes which we deal with from start to finish. We also get our fair share of the ' don't know who to ask about this' sort of query, so very varied and the customers are sometimes quite vocal depending on their query.
    My brain isn't nearly as good at multitasking as it used to be and my brain can't be bothered with some of the queries to be honest. I don't mind helping people who are trying to help themselves, like not understanding benefits for example, but I have little patience now with people who won't even try to help themselves, like perhaps picking up a screwdriver and trying to screw a drawer handle back on. It's all very well saying the council is responsible for repairing their properties but for such a little repair, is it really worth reporting it and then having to wait in for the repair man when it's quick and easy to do yourself?
    Anyway,......,.. my manager came out to see me this afternoon and brought with him the official letter offering me ill health retirement. I've got a couple of weeks to decide if I want to accept but I've already signed the form and hubby is going to hand it in for me tomorrow morning. This will make my end of employment date 19/2/17. The pension people should be in touch with me soon to give me the accurate info of my pension. I can't really believe that I've actually got an end date now. Seems a bit surreal at the moment.
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