My Pension Claim for Major ill-Health.

shalene

I worked for Royal Mail until 2011. I took my pension 2018. I had an accident 2008 that led to early retirement on ill-health. I can no longer work. When I took my pension I was told if anything major happens to me in 5 years, which has like a diagnosis of cardiac failure and adenomyosis I should make a claim. Cardiac failure can see me to a heart attack anytime and the treatment for adenomyosis will see me to not being able to conceive which, I have no children. Caridac failure was diagnosed in 2024. I reported the problems to my GP years ago. Adenomyosis was diagnosed in 2019.

I suffer schizoaffective disorder. I did not want to make a claim because of this. I am very afraid of things like these. I am writing to my old doctor as we speak for support letters to send along with the diagnosis of heart failure as I realise my claim is late. I also suffered major family displacement from 2001 and endured homelessness until 2021 and even now I cannot settle in my home because of noise and crime. I realize I will have to explain to the judge why that claim is late. Adenomyosis diagnosis is in time. Can someone go into this who knows/experienced similar. I have a beneficiary that they also say would receive a payout of £150,000 if anything major happened to me.

Can someone tell me about the amount of pension I should be receiving because I cannot work anymore and is/was my beneficiary entitled to any monies at the time I took my pension.

I personally do not think I receive the right amount. It is pittance for these times really. If I was able to work I would be earning much more and moved on to a different job where I would be earning even more.

Kimi87

There is an organisation that provides support & assistance to current & former Royal Mail employees.

https://www.rowlandhillfund.org/

You can also speak to a local general advice organisation

https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

And enquire with the pension provider to make sure your pension payment is at the level it is supposed to be according to their terms & conditions.

Benificiary entitlement is usually linked to death, not to also getting money while you are alive.

Unfortunately benefits and pensions aren't designed to match wages especially any theoritical career progression.

MW123

@shalene

From what you have described, your health problems and the difficulties you’ve lived through are very serious, and it’s completely understandable that you’re now questioning whether your Royal Mail pension was worked out correctly and whether your beneficiary had any rights under the scheme. The phrase you were told, “if anything major happens in 5 years”, isn’t a legal rule. The real criteria will be in the pension policy, booklet or award letters, usually using terms like “serious ill‑health”, “critical illness”, or specific medical definitions.

You are doing the right thing by getting letters from your doctor, especially given your schizoaffective disorder and the years of instability and homelessness you’ve had to cope with. Those are strong and understandable reasons for why you couldn’t deal with this earlier. The timing of your adenomyosis diagnosis will depend on the exact rules in the pension documents, and your cardiac failure diagnosis is still something you can mention when you ask the scheme to review your situation.

Ask the Royal Mail pension administrators for a written breakdown of your pension calculation, including any benefits or lump sums for you or your beneficiary. That will show whether your current amount is correct and whether any ill‑health benefits were due.

Once you have that paperwork, Citizens Advice, a pensions guidance charity, or the links Kimmi87 has given can go through it with you. They can help you understand your entitlement and support you with any late claim or complaint if needed.

I hope the pension scheme can resolve this for you, so you don’t have to face any more difficulty with it.

shalene

@MW123

My Cardiac failure diagnosis started around 2019 when I began to tell my GP. I am writing to her to obtain some information to support my claim. I want to use this as the main reason for my claim since it started during the five years I took my pension. Then as you say due to family displacement and homelessness for so long and this enduring mental health condition I will let the judge know these are some of the reasons its taken me so long to bring my claim forward.

I am hoping my beneficiary will receive pay out as stated and I will make some calls to ascertain conditions in the pension policy guide and to obtain a copy. I suppose its on their website also. They had said it is my beneficiary that would receive the pay out if anything happens to me. Of course I think cardiac failure is as serious as to receive this pay out and adenomyosis. I was diagnosed with adenomyosis January 2018 when I was 36, noting my doctor thought I am a very fertile.

Do you think I am going the right way with these conditions as to think my beneficiary can receive a pay out thinking they are really serious as I do not have the pensions policy guide as yet? Are solicitors understanding to my late claims? Do you think £150, 000 could really be out there for my beneficiary?

Surely again I think my conditions are serious enough. They had said if I lost and arm or a leg that those are serious but I mean to find out you cannot have children because something this serious has happened means life. I so wanted children. I mean when I had no further income as well after working for Royal Mail my dreams to have children became considerably less and because the accident left me disabled.

Do answer my questions as well. I really look forward to hearing from the online community.

MW123

@shalene

You have asked some really important questions, so I will go through them as clearly as I can. This is just my understanding of what you have shared. For anything definite, it is best to speak to one of the organisations that Kimi87 linked to, as they can look at your actual pension documents.

Solicitors and advice agencies are used to people coming forward late because of homelessness, mental health difficulties, or other major life events. You will not be judged for that. They will focus on the facts and the scheme rules.

With pensions, decisions are not based on how serious a condition feels or how much it has affected your life. Schemes use very specific definitions in their own rules. That is why getting the Royal Mail pension guide and a written breakdown of your award is the most important step. Those documents will show exactly what the scheme counts as serious ill health and what benefits apply.

In most pension schemes, a beneficiary is only paid after the member has passed away, because any serious ill health payments while someone is alive usually go to the member themselves. The Royal Mail policy guide will explain exactly how it works. The £150,000 figure can only be confirmed once you have the pension documents, as the amount and conditions vary between schemes.

Your diagnoses and the difficulties you have lived through are things you can explain when you ask the scheme to review your situation. They help show why you could not deal with this earlier. Whether any extra benefits apply will depend entirely on the wording in the pension documents.

You are taking the right steps by gathering medical letters, asking for the pension breakdown, and planning to read the policy guide. Once you have those documents, an advice charity or pensions specialist can go through them with you and help you understand what you may be entitled to.

You have been dealing with a great deal over many years, and it is completely understandable that you want clear answers now. I hope the pension scheme gives you the clarity you deserve, and that once you have the documents in front of you, the next steps feel a little less overwhelming.

shalene

@MW123

Thank you. You made this evening, less heavy for me 😀

shalene

@Kimi87

Thank you for the help. It is a different Saturday evening since I was thinking so much on my own