People who have had to stop work early due to ill-health could receive payments from the government's Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) up to five years before their pension scheme's normal retirement age.
A draft consultation document published today on the Financial Assistance Scheme includes a requirement for trustees to provide information three months before the member's normal scheme retirement age, or within 14 days of a request for that information where the member is unable to work because of ill-health. It is hoped these measures will speed up the payment process.
Mike O'Brien, minister for pensions reform, said: "People who have to stop working early because they are sick will be able to access their FAS money. Everybody is agreed FAS members should receive their payments as quickly as possible - so we have been have been continuing to work with trustees and other stakeholders to look at ways in which this process can be speeded up."
