Ill health retirement for active members

When a member retires due to ill health, there are several things you need to consider and complete before you approve the retirement and inform us.

You are referring an active member (a member still contributing to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)) to an approved independent registered medical practitioner (IRMP) because:
- the ill health management process identifies likely dismissal;
- the member requests an ill health pension and wants to be brought into the ill health management process; or
- the member says that they are resigning due to ill health and wants to be brought into the ill health management process.
You have gathered all necessary information and prepared the referral pack including the P72 for the IRMP to complete.

Guidance

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.

We have a booklet available for members, which explains the LGPS ill health rules in relation to active members and aims to help them understand the ill health criteria and procedures that must be followed. We recommend that you give the member a copy of this booklet as part of the referral process.

Template letters

Template letters have been prepared giving suggested wording you can use when advising active members of your formal ill health decision, also known as a first instance determination. The text is not mandatory, and you may wish to adapt it to fit in with your own house style and/or incorporate into other letters you are using.

If you are using these letters, please make sure you choose the correct one. There are links to the letters under the relevant steps in the process flowchart below. Different rules apply depending on when the member left. If in doubt, contact us.

Process for active benefits into payment on ill health

Step 4