Index
Ill Health
If you do not have login details, please contact the colleague who acts as your main Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) pension liaison officer, as they will be able to give you access. For additional help you can contact our GMPF Employer Support team .
Eligibility & Criteria
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) ill health retirement provisions provide immediate pension benefits if a member meets the LGPS ill health criteria either:
- whilst they are still employed and contributing to the Scheme
- after they have left the Scheme (for example a member with benefits on hold or a person who was awarded a tier 3 ill health pension)
It is your responsibility as an employer to make ill health pension decisions – not the independent registered medical practitioner (IRMP). But no decisions can be taken without having a medical assessment from an IRMP.
Tier 3 III Health Pension Review
When a member is on tier 3, they must have a review after 18 months. This review is to evaluate if the member should remain on tier 3. You need to review the information provided by the IRMP to make a formal determination.
When a member is on tier 3, they must have a review after 18 months. This review is to evaluate if the member should remain on tier 3. You should fill in a P72r(4) and send it to the independent registered medical practitioner (IRMP) to complete sections B and C. They must return the form to you.
You need to review the information provided by the IRMP to make a formal determination whether to:
- award a tier 2 ill health pension;
- award a tier 2 ill health pension;
- continue payment of the tier 3 ill health pension.
You will need to complete a P73b(2) form, filling in the appropriate sections depending on your formal determination. You should then send the completed P72r(4) and P73b(2) forms to us.
You must follow the Statutory Ill Health Retirement Guidance when dealing with ill health retirement cases. There is also a frequently asked questions document that provides answers to many common ill health retirement questions.
Additional guidance notes are included with the forms. If you need any further support please contact the employer helpline.
If the pensioner was awarded tier 3 before 31 March 2014 please contact us regarding the relevant forms and guidance.
A tier 3 pensioner can request a review to take place.
- If their tier 3 pension is currently in payment or it is less than three years since the payment of their tier 3 pension discontinued you need to fill in a P72r(5). You should send the form to the IRMP to complete sections B, C and D. They must return the form to you.
- If it has been more than three years since the payment of their tier 3 pension discontinued you need to fill in a P72r(6). You should send the form to the IRMP to complete sections B and C. They must return the form to you.
You need to review the information provided by the IRMP to make a formal determination.
You will need to complete a P73b(2) form, filling in the appropriate sections depending on your formal determination. You need to send the completed P72r(5) or P72r(6), and P73b(2) forms to us. You do not need to complete the P73b(2) form if there is no change to the pension status.
If you decide to award tier 2, following a tier 3 pensioner review taking place (while the tier 3 pension is in payment or within three years of the tier 3 pension being discontinued), and this is not the opinion of the IRMP, you need to go back to the IRMP and ask that they give an opinion regarding the severe ill health question in section C of the form. They need to record this opinion in writing on part C of the P72r(5) form. This also applies if the IRMP has given an opinion of tier 3 to tier 2 uplift, which you agree with, but the IRMP has not completed part C on the form.
Regulation 36 of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations 2013 states that before a member can have ill health retirement pension benefits put into payment, an independent registered medical practitioner (IRMP) must first assess the member against the criteria for ill health retirement in the relevant LGPS regulations and provide their opinion to the employer.
We have put together a list of IRMPs that have been approved by Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF). You can decide to use any of the IRMPs listed to obtain medical opinions in cases where payment of pension benefits on health grounds is a possibility. The list provides only the name and location the IRMP is based at. Should you require full contact details, please contact the employer helpline.
Some Occupational Health Practices have more than one doctor, who may not all have been approved as one of our IRMPs. Please ensure that you refer members to an IRMP on our approved list. Failure to do this may result in the member needing to be reassessed and delaying payment of their benefits.
Appeal Process
Notify Member
An employer or the administering authority makes a decision about a member under LGPS rules. The member is notified in writing, as required by Regulation 72 of the LGPS Regulations 2013.
Member raises a concern
If the member is unhappy with the decision, they can raise a complaint using the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP). For ill health decisions, the member completes the P39 – How to raise a dispute form.
Stage 1 review
The dispute is reviewed by the party responsible for the original decision : The employer, or GMPF. The reviewer considers evidence and provides a written response, explaining the decision and reasons.
Stage 2 review (if needed)
If the member remains dissatisfied, they can request a Stage 2 review. This is carried out by an independent referee, who reviews the case and issues a final written determination
External support options
At any stage, members can seek free guidance from MoneyHelper. If the dispute is still unresolved after IDRP, the member can escalate the complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).
Pensions Ombudsman review
The Pensions Ombudsman:
- Investigates the complaint independently
- May attempt early resolution
- Issues a formal determination, which is legally binding
Paying for ill health early retirements
When your employee retires on the grounds of permanent ill health, you may have to pay the strain cost of bringing their benefits into payment early. This cost can be large and unpredictable. There are generally three types of arrangements for paying ill health early retirement strain costs. These are outlined below:
Employers who participate in the GMPF ill health insurance scheme
- For these employers the insurance scheme will meet the cost of their ill health strain cost.
- No further direct costs shall be passed onto the employer. However, their insurance premium might be adjusted at the following actuarial valuation if their ill health experience is more costly than was assumed by the Actuary.
- Not all employers are eligible to participate in GMPF’s ill health insurance scheme.
Employers who have an ill health budget
- For employers that have an ill health budget, the strain cost arising from their employee’s ill health early retirement will be deducted from their budget.
- Should ill health strain costs exceed the budget then any amount in excess of the budget will need to be paid to GMPF.
- Not all employers are eligible to have their own ill health budgets.
Employers who neither participate in GMPF’s ill health insurance nor have an ill health budget
- These employers will be invoiced for their employee’s ill health early retirement strain costs.
- If you are in this category, you could consider obtaining external insurance cover, a provider of this insurance that GMPF is aware of is Legal & General (L&G).
- L&G have developed an insurance product for LGPS employers to help ease the risk of the employer incurring large and unexpected ill health early retirement costs. This insurance policy will only cover employees who are contributing members of GMPF and therefore any costs arising in respect of members with benefits on hold, will not be covered using this product.
- For help understanding the plan and policy, further information and contact details, you can read the L&G factsheet
If you need to confirm what your specific arrangements are with us, please contact our employer helpline.
Note: We will not provide you with advice on whether you should take out this insurance policy with L&G. This is for you to decide after taking into account your current arrangements for the payment of strain costs arising from ill health early retirements and having understood the detailed provisions of the policy. Learn More
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Still Need Help?
If you have any questions about ill health and the LGPS not covered in the toolkit or you are unsure about the ill health process please contact the employer’s helpline