Am 50 years old have BC with bone & liver mets. Have recently returned to my part time job as a nurse and am finding it very difficult. Am thinking of retiring on grounds of ill health, but this will only give me a tiny pension, as only paid in for 12 years. Does anyone know if you can claim any benefits if you take ill health retirement.
thank you
Just bumping this up - I know there are others with expertise in this area. I am so sorry you have found yourself in this position. It isn’t something I have had to deal with myself, but I have read of others claiming DLA (Disability Living Allowance). I’m sure someone will be along to help shortly.
finty x
Jane, DLA (Disability Living Allowance) is a non means-tested benefit that you can apply for under special rules for people with secondary cancer. You need to get someone professional to fill in the form - I did mine via the Macmillan Benefits Advisor at my hospital and it came through in two weeks. You will also need to include a form signed by your oncologist or GP - I forget the name of the form but if you search for DLA in these postings you will find it. Hope this helps.
Alison
Hi Jane
You might be interested in one of our publications, I’ve given the link here, it’s on the subject of benefits and breast cancer.
You can either download the booklet or order a copy through the link. I do hope you find it a useful read:
breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/Breast_cancer_and_benefits_-_dec_08.pdf
Kind regards.
Louise
Facilitator
It is possible to access pensions under “serious ill health” rules - and you can get it in a lump sum. GP or Onc need to sign any claim form to confirm a diagnosis of secondaries and then you can get at it - hope this helps
If you are paying into the NHS pension scheme, there are 2 tiers of ill health retirement now. If you haven’t spoken to your HR dept yet, it would be wise to do so as they should be able to explain what this would mean in terms of how your pension would be calculated. They can also arrange for you to receive pension forecasts as well as help you with your application.
All the best
Anne
Hi Jane
I claim DLA and just put in claim for Employment and Support Allowance. I have applied to work for early retirement due to ill health and was told by Macmillan benefits advisor that I can still claim ESA if application for retirement is successful.
If pension is over £85.00 per week they take it into account. For example if pension was £100 per week (thats £15 more) they would take £7.50 from ESA. Thats the way it was explained to me anyway.
Take care
Lynni
Thank you all very much for your replies,there is more help out there than I realized. I’ve worked all my life and never claimed anything, so its all a bit of a big learning curve.
Love Jane
Hi
I agree, it is hard to start claiming benefits when you haven’t done so all your life, but then, you have paid national insurance and contributed to society working as a nurse, as have I, and so you are a deserving cause.
I get DLA, I am applying for Tier 2 retirement, and have also been given the above info about ESA and pension. Macmillan benefits officer did all the form filling and got the doctors bit sorted as well, all I had to do was sign the dotted line.
Helen