Ill health retirement in the UK lets a pension start early when illness stops you working. Who qualifies depends on tax law and your scheme's own test.

If you are too unwell to carry on in your job, you may be wondering whether your pension can start before the usual age, and what it would pay. The answer comes in two layers: a minimum test set by HMRC for registered pensions, and then your own scheme's rules, which decide what you actually receive. Pension Wise, the free, impartial guidance service backed by government, is open to anyone with a defined contribution pension who is retiring early because of poor health. Should you prefer a person to go through your pensions and health with you, an FCA-authorised adviser will read an enquiry you leave via the form on this page. Leaving one is free.

What ill health retirement is

Ill health retirement means being paid a pension before the normal minimum pension age because of your health. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual puts it this way: "Members may get authorised pension payments before normal minimum pension age if the ill-health condition is met. This is generally referred to as ill-health retirement." For most people that age is 55, rising to 57 on 6 April 2028; taking a pension at 55 explains the rule this is an exception to, and the age for ill health retirement looks at the age question.

Ill health is one of the two routes GOV.UK gives to a pension before that age, and it notes that a health condition can sometimes mean higher payments, which is for your scheme or provider to say. Benefits you might claim alongside it are covered in claiming benefits alongside ill health retirement.

What qualifies: the HMRC test

HMRC calls the minimum test the ill-health condition. The Pensions Tax Manual says it is met if:

the scheme administrator has received evidence that the member is, and will continue to be, medically incapable (either physically or mentally) of continuing their current occupation as a result of injury, sickness, disease or disability, and the member ceases to carry on that occupation.

— HMRC, Pensions Tax Manual PTM062100, accessed 18 October 2026

  • Your current occupation. The test is about the job you are doing now.
  • Physically or mentally. The wording covers both, so this tax test treats a mental health condition and a physical one in the same way.
  • Will continue to be. The evidence has to say the incapacity is expected to last.
  • You stop that work. The second limb is that you cease to carry on the occupation.
  • A doctor's evidence. In the manual's words, "The evidence must be provided by a registered medical practitioner."

This is only the floor. The manual says: "The ill-health condition is the minimum requirement set by the tax legislation. In practice, scheme rules may have stricter ill-health criteria. For example, they may state that the member must be incapable of carrying out any occupation, rather than the current occupation that they are in." So meeting the HMRC test does not on its own mean a scheme will pay; the scheme's own test is the one you will be assessed against.

Defined contribution pots and scheme pensions: whose rules decide

GOV.UK says that when you can take money from your pension "will depend on your pension scheme’s rules". That matters for the two main types of pension.

With a defined contribution pension (a personal pension, SIPP, or a pot in a workplace scheme), the ill-health condition is what lets the money be released before the minimum age. The usual options then apply, set out in your defined contribution options at retirement, pension drawdown and pension annuities; how health can affect an annuity is in enhanced annuity rates. Ask the provider what evidence it wants.

With a defined benefit scheme (final salary or career average), the scheme applies its own criteria, and HMRC notes that "Pension schemes may pay varying levels of ill-health pension depending on the level of the member’s incapacity". The public sector tiers below are examples. The scheme's ill health retirement guide is where its test and its benefits are set out.

The tiers in public sector schemes

Public sector schemes publish their own tests. Each below is quoted from the scheme's own page or form as read on 18 October 2026; another scheme, or another section of the same scheme, can have different rules.

  • NHS Pension Scheme. NHS Business Services Authority lists three conditions: "a pension member for a minimum 2 years", "under the normal pension age" and "too ill to work in your present job", and adds that "your ill health must be one of the reasons you are leaving work". It "provides 2 levels of ill health retirement benefits. Tier 1 and Tier 2." Tier 1 needs you to be "permanently unable to carry out the responsibilities of your role"; Tier 2 also needs you to be "permanently incapable of carrying out regular employment of similar hours to your NHS job", where permanently means "unable to work until the Scheme’s normal pension age". Source: NHSBSA, Applying for ill health pension benefits. More in NHS ill health retirement.
  • Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales). After "the two year qualifying period", your employer must be satisfied that you are "permanently unable to do your job until your Normal Pension Age" and not "immediately capable of undertaking gainful employment", meaning "paid employment for at least 30 hours a week for a period of at least a year". There are three tiers, and "Your employer decides on the appropriate tier"; Tier 3 is paid only temporarily. Source: LGPS member website, Ill health retirement. More in LGPS ill health retirement.
  • Civil Service pension schemes. You need "at least two years' qualifying service" and "a breakdown in health that is likely to stop you working until retirement age". Source: Civil Service Pension Scheme, Ill health retirement. More in civil service ill health retirement.
  • Teachers' Pension Scheme. Teachers' Pensions' application form (October 2025 version) asks for medical evidence that you are "permanently incapable, because of a recognised medical condition, to undertake any teaching, including part-time teaching, until your normal pension age". Source: Teachers' Pensions, Application for Ill-health Retirement Benefits (archived copy). More in teachers' ill health retirement.
  • Scottish teachers' schemes. The Scottish Public Pensions Agency describes partial incapacity benefits for someone "permanently unable to teach but able to undertake other employment", and total incapacity benefits where the ability to carry out "any work" is "impaired by more than 90%". Source: Scottish Public Pensions Agency, ill-health retirement.

Police officers, firefighters and members of the armed forces have their own schemes and guides; see police ill health retirement. What each tier pays is in how ill health pensions are worked out.

Which physical and mental health conditions count

None of the tests quoted above lists diagnoses. They are written around capacity to work: HMRC's wording covers "injury, sickness, disease or disability", caused "physically or mentally", and Teachers' Pensions asks for "a recognised medical condition". So under these tests no condition qualifies, or is ruled out, by its name alone; the question is whether yours means you cannot do the work the scheme's test refers to, and for how long.

That puts the weight on the medical evidence. The NHS scheme describes an "independent assessment based on all available medical evidence" by "a team of doctors and advisors qualified in occupational health"; the Civil Service scheme says "it’s generally expected that you’ll have had a specialist opinion during your illness"; and Teachers' Pensions says its medical advisers "rely exclusively on what you submit and will not seek further medical evidence". What the assessment involves is covered in the ill health retirement medical assessment.

The serious ill-health lump sum

A separate rule applies when someone is expected to live for a short time. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual (PTM063400) requires the scheme to have written evidence from a registered medical practitioner "confirming that the member is expected to live for less than one year", and says "There is no minimum age for the payment of a serious ill-health lump sum." The payment takes everything not yet drawn in that arrangement, not part of it. Under 75 it is free of income tax up to the member's available lump sum and death benefit allowance, with anything above that "taxed as pension income at the member's marginal rate"; from 75 the whole sum is taxed as pension income. GOV.UK adds that "Some pension funds will keep at least 50% of your pension pot for your spouse or civil partner". The detail is in cashing in a pension because of ill health and tax on ill health pensions; what passes to a partner is in pension death benefits.

How to apply

  1. Ask the scheme. The scheme administrator, or your employer's HR or pensions team, holds the forms. The NHS says to speak to your employer's HR or pension department, and the Civil Service says "First, you should speak to your employer."
  2. Ask for the scheme's ill health guide and the application form, and check the qualifying period.
  3. Get medical evidence. HMRC requires evidence from a registered medical practitioner. On the NHS form, part C is completed by your occupational health doctor, and "where this is not possible the report can be completed by your GP or specialist"; the LGPS says your employer "must get the opinion of an independent occupational health physician".
  4. Complete every part of the form. The NHS warns that an incomplete form "may be returned, and this will delay your application".
  5. If you are refused, ask about the appeal route: the Civil Service scheme says "If your application for ill health retirement is unsuccessful you can appeal the decision." See appealing a refusal.

If you have already left the job, ask that scheme directly: the NHS, for example, uses a different form for deferred members. Timescales are in how long ill health retirement takes, and working again afterwards in working after ill health retirement.

A scheme pension, other pots, benefits and a partner are a lot to weigh while unwell. Naming your scheme on the form on this page gives an FCA-authorised adviser a starting point for fitting them together.

Questions people ask about ill health retirement

Can I get State benefits as well?

Possibly. GOV.UK says: "If you retire early because of ill health you may be entitled to other benefits. Use a benefits calculator to check." It also warns that "The amount of money you get from any income-related benefits could be affected if you take your pension early". The detail is in our guide to benefits alongside ill health retirement.

Can the pension be stopped or reduced later?

HMRC says a scheme pension paid on ill-health grounds "may be reduced or stopped at any time without incurring unauthorised payment charges", and the LGPS describes its Tier 3 pension as "paid temporarily". Check your scheme's review rules.

Is ill health retirement the same as early retirement?

No. Ordinary early retirement is covered in retiring early in the UK. The ill-health route needs medical evidence and a scheme decision, and is the exception to the minimum age.

What if someone offers me my pension early because I am unwell?

Be careful. HMRC says any pension payment made before the minimum age "is an unauthorised payment and will be taxed accordingly" unless the member is retiring due to ill-health or has a protected pension age. See the FCA's pension scams page before agreeing to anything.

Your next step

The scheme or provider's ill health guide, and the evidence it asks for, is the place to start, with a free Pension Wise appointment if you have a defined contribution pot. For your pensions, tax and family to be looked at together by an FCA-authorised adviser, a couple of minutes on the form on this page sets that in motion.

Sources: HMRC, Pensions Tax Manual PTM062100 and PTM063400; GOV.UK, Early retirement, your pension and benefits; NHSBSA; LGPS member website; Civil Service Pension Scheme; Teachers' Pensions, ill-health application form, October 2025 (archived copy); Scottish Public Pensions Agency; MoneyHelper, Pension Wise (archived copy). All accessed 18 October 2026.