On long term sick, get income protection but will it stop if they dismiss me

[Su55anr]

On long term sick & getting Income protection from my employer. They are strongly hinting at dismissing me.
The income protection pays me 50% of salary for a maximum of 5 years. I’ve been paid IP for the last 6 months.
i think they will dismiss me on capabilities as I’m not currently able to do my job but I’m hoping my health will improve & I can return to it in time.
If they dismiss me am I correct in stating the income protection will cease too.
Thank you for any help you can offer

Is this a policy you have, or your employer?

Even if the income protection is through your employer, it would be unusual
for them to dismiss you whilst you still have a valid claim.
have you had a recent assessment by the IP provider? Have they indicated that they expect you to be well enough to return to work soon? Or, conversely, that they do not expect you to return in the foreseeable future?

Jellybunny56
the IP policy is from my employer

NotEnoughRoom
Hi, the IP provider completed an assessment around 3 months and I’m due to have my next assessment with them beginning of November.
HR are having 3 monthly meetings with me too. At the last HR meeting they wanted to arrange a phased return but I’d said I wasn’t ready to do this yet. Explained I was still having NHS appointments with the chronic pain clinic & NHS cbt too.
HR lady said I couldn’t expect them to leave my position vacant much longer

So you've only been off.3.months? No where near the 5 years?

NellieElephantine, I have been off since 1/10/24 work paid me 100% salary for 6 months then moved me over to their Income Protection plan which pays out 50% of salary for maximum period of 5 years

If you are dismissed and the policy is the employers, not your personal policy then yes it would stop as it's a benefit of your employment and you would no longer be employed.

But give your union or acas a call, it's quite extreme to dismiss someone in these circumstances. Have you told them you are working towards coming back to work? How long have you been employed by them?

They don't need to dismiss you to cover your sick leave, they can employ someone else and as they're insured for your salary it's no big financial loss to them.

Are you expecting to be off for 5 years?

Call Acas, I would expect the policy to stop when you were dismissed, but I've no idea whether dismissing someone after a year off sick is reasonable or not.

TartanMammy
i have worked there since 2018 full time position.
Yes I’ve said I hope to return to work but not yet, I inform my line manager monthly of all my hospital appointments, & additional nhs apps & private health apps I have to regain my health.
Not expecting to be off for 5 years but it’s possibly going to be another 6 months

So a year off sick, do you expect to be off for another 4 years?

I work in HR. Yes, its reasonable and common. Most places you would srart to look at long term prospects of returning after SSP runs out at 28w
Get medical reports, have meetings etc.

If no prospects of return, dismiss around 9 months.
If prospects, needs longer to recover etc, may wait up to a year but not much longer unless exceptional circumstances.

stitchguru
Work have had access to my medical records around the 5 month stage and had started me on working to wellbeing programme (sort of rehab) I had weekly sessions for about 6 weeks & I mentioned I was having sessions with Chronic pain clinic, CBT & private physio. They then paused the wellbeing programme until the NHS sessions finish. They’re still ongoing

Through my work I’ve dealt with a few people off long term on their companies income protection. But they were never going to be fit enough to return to work so their employers had already replaced them but were keeping them “on the books” so they benefited from the IP policy.

It sounds like you haven’t been declared long term sick/disabled by occ health or by the IP’s medical person. In that case you are being dealt with under the normal sickness absence management and it’s common for employers to want a date for someone returning once you been off for a year and If no-one can give a date then move for termination of contract on grounds of ill health.
The income protection policy belongs to your employer so my understanding is most policies require the person to still be officially employed but it’s always worth checking the individual policy

NellieElephantine, I expect I’ll be off another 6 months.
I don’t know why they have an IP plan for 5 years though if it won’t pay out that long.

RonSel, HR have referred me for an occupational health assessment back in August but no date given yet.

Is that what your doctor is saying? Is it a curable physical injury?

Is it something that can be fixed? I have a chronic pain issue, but had to return to work after 6 months or face losing my job. I think after 12 months they will be on the verge of dismissal now. I can’t imagine any company would keep a position open for 5yrs. I guess you need to consider returning very soon on a phased return, or facing dismissal.

I think you need to chase this up with HR. If you were referred in August this should have taken place by now, whether it’s in-house OH or outsourced. I’d be concerned the referral has gone astray

NellieElepantine, no it’s not curable.
i have 3 types of arthritis, fibromyalgia, and a few other things to.
When I started working for them in 2018 I only had 2 types of arthritis. Only had a few days off in 2021, then 3 weeks in 2022, nothing in 2023 then end of last year had severe flare up, collapsed & hospitalised but only a few days, they said I’d had undergone a period of extreme stress which has resulted in a breakdown.
I can sometimes tell when a flare up is coming and would tell my boss I needed to book holidays off as I didn’t want more sick days on my record. My boss has told HR he let me do this.

Thank you everyone for your replies and guidance. I will chase up the Occ health ass with HR tomorrow

Is this a PHI policy?

If so they really cannot dismiss you whilst you are still able to claim under it. It’s a legally implied term that you should be able to claim for the duration of the policy - otherwise they could be liable for any losses you suffer!

As its an employment benefit it would cease when employment ceases.
Our policy could pay out to retirement if employees continue to meet our insurers conditions we don't tend to dismiss people if they do. Good luck op

I would imagine the issue is they need someone doing the work. They probably aren’t making decisions based on the IP policy which only benefits you really - unfortunately they are still left with the issue of covering the work.

its really tough. All the bad luck that comes with being ill just seems to pile up

MrsPinkCock, yes it’s a phi policy that work give us as a benefit.
Figgygal, I currently do qualify for policy and had to give access to medical records and go through an application form on the phone with someone from the Income protection team. Then waited a week to be told I qualified