Prospect

Benefits & services

Legal services

"On your side" is the guide to Prospect legal services and can be obtained from headquarters or downloaded from the website. This describes our legal services in detail, but below is a summary intended to cover the main aspects. Where there is any doubt the guide is the primary source for the purposes of defining our legal services.

Personal injury scheme

This scheme provides legal advice to all Prospect members, their spouses and partners and any financially dependant members of their immediate family in cases of accident or decease. However, personal injury claims arising from employment when the individual is allocated to our retired category will not be covered. The exceptions to this are legal claims for personal injury related to an occupational exposure that occurred whilst in employment as a working member and that resulted in a latent disease, for example asbestosis. In such circumstances Prospect will provide full legal assistance to pursue a personal injury claim even if the need for litigation arises when the individual was in the retired members category.

It is important that members do not enter into any correspondence or negotiations in relation to any litigation until advice is received from Prospect. In particular they should not engage their own solicitor as this will exclude them from the Prospect scheme. Please see the legal services guide for more details.

Asbestos register

Members that have been exposed to asbestos are encouraged to provide details of their work history to Prospect, which will be retained on our asbestos register. Registrants commit themselves to providing supporting written evidence of exposure for other potential claimants employed at the same workplace, and can expect a reciprocal statement from another registrant to support their claim.

Deafness compensation scheme

Prospect can assist in bringing a claim to the Ministry of Defence (Civilian Employees) Deafness Compensation Scheme. Any civilian or former civilian employee of MOD that alleges deafness arising from employment with MOD is eligible to apply.

Radiation linked disease

Special agreements have been negotiated with a range of employers for payment of compensation where an employee has died or suffers from leukaemia or other radiation linked disease. See the radiation-linked disease page of the national website for more information.

LegalLine

Free initial legal advice can be provided by telephone on any non-employment related matter. LegalLine is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Advice is confidential and will be given within 24 hours.

Travel insurance

If you have a pre-existing medical condition, or because of your age find it difficult to get general travel insurance cover, get a quote from AllClear.

Financial and other services

Retired members can access a range of financial and other services offered to all members of the union.

Pensions

After retirement, Prospect will continue to advise on pension entitlement. In the first instance, contact should be made with the relevant full-time officer (FTO) for the RMGA.

A retired member who faces a problem associated with payment/non-payment of a civil service pension, or any general problem relating to a civil service pension, can refer the matter to the Retired Members Group co-ordinator who will assist with all civil service pension scheme matters. In the first instance this should be through contact with the Retired Members Group National Committee (020 7902 6643).

Similarly, if a retired member faces a problem associated with payment or any general problem with a pension arising from employment with a private sector company, they should in the first instance contact the Prospect regional office that covers their RMGA. Each private sector occupational scheme should have an internal disputes procedure. The procedure will have been designed to resolve difficulties relating to any issue concerning entitlement to or membership of the scheme or fund. In some instances it may be beneficial to contact one of the member-elected trustees of the relevant occupational scheme.

Prospect will also provide partners, spouses or other beneficiaries under the pension scheme of a deceased member with explanatory advice about matters relating to the rights and dependants benefits arising from the member's pension scheme for up to twelve months from the members death. The extent of such advice is at the discretion of Prospect and does not include funding legal advice from external sources.