Retirement due to ill health

lyndylou63

I have just spoken to my employer who has suggest a ill health retirement plan.

if I take early retirement due to ill health will I still be able to claim ESA 

CockneyRebel

Hi lyndylou

yes you can , I did

CR

lyndylou63

Thanks for that

lyndylou63

Can I also claim my work place pensions early due to ill health. I have 2 frozen pensions . What happens to my current workplace pension.

CockneyRebel

For that I really do suggest you get trained financial advice

From my experiance it can have an affect on your benefits depending on what toy are claiming and the value of the pensions.
Whether you need /can draw down lump sums needs to be considered
Whether to take them as monthly income
etc etc
You cannot get Proper financial advice like this on any forum

best of luck

CR

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

lyndylou63

I'm already on pip. I have applied for contribution esa which I don't think is means tested. I will probably have to leave the pensions where they are.

CockneyRebel

CB ESA is not means tested but pension income has an £85 limit then for every £2 penion income, £1 is deducted

Please do get trained financial advice as pensions not taken when they could be in some circumstances can be taken into account, not sure if this is deprivation of capital or some other nasty they have cooked up.
I am sure one of our learned advisor will know more as i am trawling the very depths of what may or may not be knowledge

CR   

wild_one

Sorry to dig up this old thread but I wondered what the outcome was, if any. Like many others, I am in a position where I claim means tested benefits, but also will eventually have a private pension to deal with. In my experience there is very little expert advice available for 'ordinary' people. Pension advisory service, CAB, your own pension provider etc, I've spoken with them all. But there is very little expert knowledge of the 'overlap' between means tested benefits and pensions? Indeed, pension choices are complex enough but for those on 'benefits' even more so?

KG100

I just notify DWP of my yearly pension increase, they then sort it all out.
They send me a letter every April or May asking about any increases. 
I retired early with a medical retirement pension. 

KG100

I've drawn my pension for about 16 years now and have never had any problems with claiming IB or ESA or DLA.

wild_one

So just to confirm. You get a private and state pension?

KG100

I'm too young for a state pension yet. 

zakblood

i took early retirement due to ill health back in 1999, letter sent from hospital doctor and my GP confirmed it and my private pension excepted it, now moving forward in time and failed my 5th assessment for ESA in the support group, which is where i've been since incapacity transfer, now kicked off since April 15th this year, means i got £0 since then, just failed the MR and now waiting for Tribunal to see how that goes, may take a year or so in my area, so think before you leap, as what ever they say one year can change over time, as it sure has for me, also too young for state pension aged 52 in a few days

wild_one

KG100 said:

I've drawn my pension for about 16 years now and have never had any problems with claiming IB or ESA or DLA.

Oh ok, so I'm guessing 'income related ESA'? Which is means tested, so they 'disregard' your private pension income. And obviously any housing benefit and council tax reduction also disregard private pension income?

wilko

@zakblood, a happy birthday and many more to come.

KG100

wild_one said:

KG100 said:

I've drawn my pension for about 16 years now and have never had any problems with claiming IB or ESA or DLA.

Oh ok, so I'm guessing 'income related ESA'? Which is means tested, so they 'disregard' your private pension income. And obviously any housing benefit and council tax reduction also disregard private pension income?

I've always been on contributions based ESA. 

wild_one

KG100 said:

wild_one said:

KG100 said:

I've drawn my pension for about 16 years now and have never had any problems with claiming IB or ESA or DLA.

Oh ok, so I'm guessing 'income related ESA'? Which is means tested, so they 'disregard' your private pension income. And obviously any housing benefit and council tax reduction also disregard private pension income?

I've always been on contributions based ESA. 

Aaah i see, that explains it. My concerns wouldnt apply to you