Pension Administrator Problems

[Midpack]

I am part of a company that was spun off by a Fortune 500 company 13 years ago. The new company is completely separate from the old, not a subsidiary, joint venture or any other association. All of us had pensions with the former employer, although they all stopped growing then and there of course. However, all of us are counting on those pensions as part of our financial plan, for some of us it's a substantial %.

Problem is the former employer treats us like third class citizens or worse. Examples: 1) Usually takes weeks and several calls/messages to get any kind of response when someone is ready to retire. 2) They keep tweaking the plan without telling us, stumbled on the fact they have changed how they're calculating lump sum amounts, and 3) They provide erroneous information, and most employees aren't savvy enough to know. 4) and so on.

What recourse do we have to get accurate, timely information from them short of hiring an attorney (at our own expense)?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

One thing is they should have an annual report of your plan every year. You can request a copy by writing the U.S department of Labor. Also the plan administrator upon request and at no charge should give you a statement of assets and liabilities of your plan. You might get charged a copy fee. Im not sure what you can really do if they are "slow" at their job other than making a complaint to their boss.

 

[Nords]

What recourse do we have to get accurate, timely information from them short of hiring an attorney (at our own expense)?

When CBS started offering buyouts to management in 1994, the union threatened to take them to court unless the buyout was also offered to labor. That sparked a mass exodus.

As part of the buyout proceedings, the union ran CBS' lump-sum calculations through a forensic accountant (at the time I believe it was a firm called "PensionBusters") who decreed it legally satisfactory and correctly calculated.

Maybe what you need is a 401(k)/pension accounting expert, especially if they work with/for unions.