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Should I appeal

Royal Mail pension news and discussion.Please note the advise given in this forum is unofficial, please use the links we have for a more detailed response or see an independent financial adviser.
Horace
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 Oct 2011, 13:03
Gender: Male

Should I appeal

Post by Horace »

Hi all ,
I've just been offered Early Ill Health Retirement with Lump Sum . Does Royal Mail always make this offer first ? There is an option to appeal for Retirement with pension paid immediately . I would have thought that with the enhancements this would be the better option .
Has anybody been successful with this appeal ? Since my condition is described as "degenerative" I'm obviously not going to improve .
I'm 58 with 13 years service and don't consider myself capable of working elsewhere .
Thanks in advance for any help offered .
RobertT
EX ROYAL MAIL
Posts: 6643
Joined: 09 Sep 2007, 14:26
Gender: Male

Re: Should I appeal

Post by RobertT »

Horace wrote:Hi all ,
I've just been offered Early Ill Health Retirement with Lump Sum . Does Royal Mail always make this offer first ? There is an option to appeal for Retirement with pension paid immediately . I would have thought that with the enhancements this would be the better option .
RM have probably offered the lump sum option because it's cheaper for them.
Has anybody been successful with this appeal ? Since my condition is described as "degenerative" I'm obviously not going to improve .
I'm 58 with 13 years service and don't consider myself capable of working elsewhere .
Thanks in advance for any help offered .
I can't see why you wouldn't appeal and I would have thought a letter off your doctor would help your cause also.
Links to all RM pension related websites are here
easter bunny
Posts: 378
Joined: 01 Jul 2007, 20:08

Re: Should I appeal

Post by easter bunny »

Before ATOS make their recommendations to the RM you should have had a consultation with the ATOS/RM Doctor and your medical notes should be at the disposal of ATOS. If you believe this hasn't happened and your consultant/ GP believe that you will not work again ( based on your age ) you should appeal ASAP ( remember there is a cut off date once the face to face interview with the DOM has taken place )

You can draw your pension now if you don't succeed with your appeal, however you will face deductions for early payment.

It's ironic at the moment with IHR in the fact that giving staff early payment of Pension won't cost the business anything at all. In fact the business will SAVE money compared to IHR with Lump sum.

The IHR lump sum comes to around 43 weeks pay which comes out of RM coffers . However IHR with Pension ( excluding the notice period ) comes out of the Pension Pot , which will shortly be financed by the tax payer and not the responsibility of the RM.. All the deficit is being taken over by the Government.
Horace
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 Oct 2011, 13:03
Gender: Male

Re: Should I appeal

Post by Horace »

Hi ,
Thanks for the replies fellas .
Yes , I had a few meetings with ATOS doctors . For a while , all they recommended was reduced duties . Finally they requested a report from my GP which resulted in the early ill health retirement offer which is about £17500 . OK ,in the short term it seems like a tidy deal but in the long term the pension option seems better , or is it ? I've read the pension terms but it just gives me a bad head . I asked for a meeting with a union rep but they sent out a guy who knows nothing about pensions .
I'm just wondering , is this offer / appeal thing standard procedure and has anyone else gone down this route ? I've only got until Tuesday to make a decision .
easter bunny
Posts: 378
Joined: 01 Jul 2007, 20:08

Re: Should I appeal

Post by easter bunny »

I have known many ex colleagues who have appealed IHR, some successful. You should contact Union HQ regarding the appeal if you have no one in your branch who have the experience of an appeal ( which I seriously doubt ) .

If you need any reports from consultants/ GPs regarding the appeal you will receive the cost of this from the RM.

IHR with Pension as long as you have over 10 years Pension contributions paid in ( and still contributing ) is a lot lot better than IHR with Lump Sum. In a lot of cases it can be life changing...


What have you got to lose ?