The whole of the pension element payable in respect of a pension credit benefit may be commuted for a lump sum before normal benefit age in circumstances where the person entitled to the pension credit benefit is suffering from serious ill-health prior to the normal retirement age.

In this regulation, “serious ill-health” means ill-health which is such as to give rise to life expectancy of less than one year from the date on which the commutation of the pension credit benefit is applied for.

The lump sum shall be equal to five times the annual rate of the pension to which the pension credit member would have been entitled if on the date of commutation he had already reached the normal retirement age.