What to do if your ill-health pension is refused

When you apply to get your pension early, you usually need to complete an ill-health retirement application form and include proof of your medical condition or diagnosis.

Some pension schemes might also ask for agreement from your employer that you're not retiring for another reason.

Your application will be reviewed against your scheme’s rules

Your pension provider, trustees or employer will review your case and make a fair and reasonable decision based on the rules of your scheme. This might include getting medical advice or opinions from your doctor and other experts. 

You’ll then be told the decision, with a report explaining how it was made. The report will tell you how much time you have to appeal the decision if you disagree. 

If you’re under age 75 and have a terminal illness with less than 12 months to live, you might be offered the option to take your entire pension tax-free. 

If your request for ill-health retirement is refused, you can challenge the decision. Check your paperwork to see if you need to appeal by a certain date.

You should have been told the reasons why your application was declined. This means you can plan your appeal to provide anything that was missing the first time.  

For example, if the medical evidence you provided was not detailed enough, you could ask your medical professional for an updated report. 

The important thing is to challenge where you think the decision may not have been made properly, or in line with the rules of your scheme. This might be as you believe the decision maker did not review all the evidence or misunderstood something. 

For example, if you lost your job due to your illness, you might want to appeal if you were turned down for ill-health retirement. But your scheme rules might state you’re not eligible if you’re capable of doing any job – not just the job you were in.  

Even if your doctor supports your application, the decision maker can choose the medical advice they think is the most appropriate, with no requirement for a medical adviser to meet you.  

Once you’ve prepared your appeal and any extra evidence, submit it to your pension provider, trustees or employer. Your decision report should explain how to do this and when you should expect to hear back. 

Your appeal will then be reviewed and a new decision made. This might include the decision maker seeking different medical options. 

Depending on your pension scheme, there might be two chances to appeal. 

If you disagree with the result of the appeal, or you do not think the correct process was followed, you can complain to The Pensions Ombudsman onlineOpens in a new window

You can also: 

• phone The Pensions Ombudsman on 0800 917 4487Opens in a new window, or 
• email enquiries@pensions-ombudsman.org.ukOpens in a new window.

You usually have up to three years from the date of your first ill-health retirement application to do this. 

The Pensions Ombudsman is a free service and means someone independent will investigate your case. They will decide if the decision about your ill-health retirement was made fairly or if a mistake has been made. 

If you agree with The Pensions Ombudsman’s decision on your case, your pension provider, trustees or employer must do as they say. 

If The Pensions Ombudsman rules that the original decision was fair, you might still be able to start a new application for ill-health retirement at a later date.

This restarts the process but means it will be reviewed again, including any new evidence you’re able to get.