Tesco has responded to pressure to pay out thousands of pounds from the pension of an employee who was given three months to live, after more than 45,000 people signed an online petition.
Martin Craddock, 40, who worked for nine years as a general assistant at the supermarket chain, applied to the Tesco pension fund for a serious ill-health payment after he was diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma.
He was expecting a lump sum of £9,000, which he and his family hoped would go towards his funeral costs. But after he died in February, they say Tesco failed to acknowledge his serious ill-health claim and paid out £2,471.
Now Tesco has agreed to pay the balance to Craddock’s family after their Change.org online petition reached 46,766 signatures and the Guardian made calls to the retailer.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We would like to again express our sincerest condolences to Mr Craddock’s family. This is an extremely difficult time for them and we want to do what we can to make it easier.
“We have listened to their concerns and reviewed the detail of this case. Although the benefits from the scheme were correctly quoted, because of the delay in receiving the medical notes, Tesco will pay the difference to reflect these exceptional circumstances.”
Tesco initially failed to pay out the full sum claimed by the family because forms from the company’s pension fund were not filled out in time by Craddock’s doctor.
Craddock worked for Tesco from the age of 18 to 27, paying into a workplace pension scheme throughout that time. His sister, Hayley Craddock, said that when her brother found out he had only a short time left he applied for a lump-sum payment from his Tesco pension to help contribute to the cost of his funeral.
“He wanted to spend what money he had and make preparations,” she said. “He wanted a big celebration when he had gone so he applied for a serious ill-health [payment] which would have enabled him to cash in his lump sum.” He made a similar application to Lloyds, for whom he had also worked, she said.
Craddock and his family continued sending Tesco updates on his deteriorating health, but they were unaware that his GP had not filled out a form sent by the company’s pension fund confirming his condition.
After Craddock died on 20 February, his family notified Tesco, telling the company they needed the money for his funeral. But instead of the £9,000 they had been expecting, they received a letter telling them they were due the lesser sum.
“He should have got the £9,000 but, depending on which way you look at it, he died too quickly or the forms weren’t filled out in time,” his sister said.
Tesco indicated that it would pay the outstanding £6,539, after a phone call from the Guardian. Hayley Craddock said she was “really, really pleased” that her brother’s wishes had been honoured by his former employer and grateful to the people who had backed her online campaign.
“It’s quite a comfort,” she said. “Obviously it doesn’t bring Martin back but it’s good to know his wishes are being followed through. He was always very active on social media and it shows the powers of that because if we had made a complaint through the pensions ombudsman it would have taken about a year.
“The main thing and the really important thing for us is that for other families going through a similar thing they shouldn’t be held up with all this red tape and bureaucracy when they are dealing with the loss of a loved one.”
