PENSION REVIEW GENERAL INFORMATION

Reassessment of Ill Health Pension

Section K1 of the Police Regulations 1987 allows that as long as a person is in receipt of an ill-health pension, the police authority may exercise the powers conferred by the Regulation, to consider at such intervals, as they, in their discretion, think proper, whether the disability has ceased.

By applying the same process to all pensioners, irrespective of their disability or location of residence within mainland UK, they are all treated in a fair, thorough and consistent manner. All pensioners are treated as individuals and each case is assessed on its own merits. Use of the MPS's own Medical Officers also ensures continuity and consistency in respect of the recommendations made regarding the reassessment of the disability. The procedures relating to pensioners who now reside abroad have also been strengthened and in some instances, assistance has been sought through the relevant Embassy/High Commission.

The purpose of the review is to determine whether your disability has substantially altered on the basis of your current state of health. The review equally confines itself to issues relating to your police employment and the medical condition that was present at the time of your ill-health retirement.

The Police Regulations are a statutory instrument, and the police authority will not consider any exclusion to the process.

Review of an Associated Injury Award

Section K2(1) of the Police Pension Regulations 1987, states that the police authority shall, at such intervals as may be suitable, consider whether the degree of the pensioner's disablement has altered; and if after such consideration, the police authority find the pensioner's disablement has substantially altered, the pension shall be revised accordingly.

As part of the review procedure, the police authority will, in the first instance, ask each pensioner in receipt of an injury award, to complete a questionnaire and medical consent form. This information on the questionnaire is required to determine whether the percentage of injury award being paid is still appropriate given the individual's current circumstances. On receipt the Medical Officer will decide whether to carry out a paper review (in which case there may be a request for GP and specialist reports) or to call the individual for an assessment and therefore the individual will receive details of an appointment.

An injury award granted under the terms of the Police Pension Regulations is calculated on potential earning capacity, as affected by the associated injury. Injury awards granted under the Police Pension Regulations do not correlate to disability awards granted by the Department of Social Security - they are two separate issues and neither has any bearing on the other.

Injury Bands

Injury awards are divided into four bands. These are

0 - 25 % 26 - 50% 51 - 75% 76 - 100%

Irrespective of the particular injury award, each band provides the same monetary reward. For example an individual who receives an injury pension of 51% would receive the same amount had they been granted an injury pension of 75%.

Injury pensions are intended to compensate an individual for any loss of potential earnings as a result of an injury sustained on duty. The award is calculated by identifying the salary for a job that the individual is expected to be able to perform and comparing it with the salary of a police officer now, with the same length of service as when the individual left the service.

The Regulations do not allow for any regional variations when identifying roles and the MPS therefore use London rates of pay.

Once a pensioner reaches the age of 60 (or 55, if reached this age before October 2006) and has therefore passed the normal retirement age for police officers, it is no longer appropriate to use a police officers' salary as the comparator. The mean average earnings for the UK are therefore used as the salary comparator.

The Appointment Itself

The appointments are scheduled at 30-minute intervals - this allows the Medical Officer enough time for the consultation and time enough afterwards to assess all the information and to make their recommendation to the Police Authority. Due to the distances travelled by many pensioners, the Medical Officer does attempt to keep as close to the appointment schedule as they possibly can.

Pension Review Clinics are held between 11.00am and 15.00pm on Thursdays only. As the cost of each appointment is borne by the public purse, late cancellations are closely monitored and should be kept to a minimum.

Any medical reports that you may have, that were not available prior to your ill-health retirement, would be beneficial to the Medical Officer. These should be sent to the Medical Officer prior to your appointment. You should not pay for any reports to be specifically prepared for your appointment. If the MPS Medical officer requires additional medical information, they will seek your written consent to approach your GP/Hospital Specialist prior to the conclusion of your appointment. Any costs incurred as a result of such a request, will be borne by us. The MPS will not, however, reimburse costs incurred directly by pensioners in respect to this matter.

If you wish to be accompanied to your appointment by a friend or partner, the medical officer will not generally object to their presence. However, should the medical officer wish to speak to you privately at any stage of the consultation, he/she may ask your companion to wait in the waiting area for a period of time. If you do wish to bring a companion to the appointment, please inform the Pensions Clerk on 020 7161 0241, so that the relevant building passes can be arranged in advance.

If the medical officer does not require any additional medical information, he/she will formally submit their findings in writing to the Medical Retirement Secretariat. The medical officer will also recommend to the Police Authority when the next review should take place. It must be noted that this is a recommendation only; the Police Authority can decide to review an individual at any time.

If the medical officer wishes to seek additional medical information regarding your current state of health from your GP or Hospital Specialist, he/she will not be in a position to make any recommendations until after this information has been received.

Occupational Health has no control in respect of the response time taken by GP's and Hospital Specialists. Although outstanding reports are pursued at regular intervals, it may be that you will not be informed of the outcome of your reassessment for 12-16 weeks. Once the relevant medical report has been received, the medical officer will complete the appropriate paperwork, which will be attached to your pension file. The file will then be returned to the Medical Retirement Secretariat who will formally notify you in writing as to the outcome of the review.

The only condition that the medical officer will consider at this review is the condition for which the injury pension was awarded. Any additional injuries or illnesses not included on the certificate, and thought to have been caused by an injury on duty, must be addressed separately through the Medical Retirement Secretariat.

Reimbursement of Expenses

There is no provision within the Police Pension Regulations for the reimbursement of any costs incurred for the attendance of pension review appointments. The Police Authority, however, have decided to use their discretion to reimburse reasonable travelling expenses directly as a result of attending a pension review appointment. The Police Authority expects pensioners to use the cheapest form of transport available, usually standard rate rail fare. Pensioners are encouraged to make use of off-peak travel concessions, where possible, and those travelling longer distances are encouraged to book their train ticket in advance to take advantage of the significant cost savings available. The Police Authority will not reimburse the full cost of fares claimed where a cheaper alternative was readily available, but not utilised by the pensioner concerned. Further information regarding train journeys & fares can be obtained by contacting the National Rail Network 08457 484950.

The Police Authority will only authorise reimbursement of airfares if the pensioner travelling a long distance can demonstrate that the cost of travelling by air is cheaper that any alternative rail options.

Those pensioners seeking reimbursement of their travelling costs should request the appropriate claims form from the OH Receptionist when attending their appointment. In order to validate claims, the completed form must be accompanied by the relevant travel tickets/receipts.

Pensioners using their own private vehicles to attend appointments can claim reimbursement of their mileage at public transport rate, which is currently 24.5 pence per mile.

Pensioners should note that reimbursement of travelling expenses will only be authorised for the person required to attend the appointment. Due to financial constraints, the Police Authority will not reimburse costs of travelling companions. Neither do they reimburse refreshment expenses or overnight accommodation costs.

The Police Authority will not meet the costs of any loss of earnings incurred by an individual as a result of attending a review appointment.

Failure to comply with requests

The Police Authority has a legal obligation to review all injury pensions under Regulation K2. If any individual fails to co-operate with the process it may result in an injury pension being reduced to 0%. Once a review has taken place any identified shortfall in pension payments will be backdated to the date of the reduction.

Appeal Rights

Once the medical officer has completed the review and a new certificate has been completed, you will be informed of this decision by the Medical Retirement Secretariat. If you disagree with any of the doctor's decisions, you have a right of appeal under Regulation H2 of the Police Pensions Regulations. Any appeal is heard by an independent panel of doctors and is attended by both the medical officer and the appellant. If you are considering exercising your rights of appeal, you are advised to seek advice from the Police Federation who will be able to advise you on the process.

Next Review

After the review has taken place the Medical Retirement Secretariat will inform you of the outcome. You will also be advised as to when your next review is expected to take place. In some cases the medical officer will recommend that no further review be carried out. However, as the Police Authority can decide to review an individual at any time, this cannot be guaranteed.

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PENSION REVIEW GENERAL INFORMATION