How do I get a copy of my company's ERISA Summary Plan Description

If you have employee benefits through your job, you are participating in an ERISA plan. That is a benefit plan covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. If you want to know the rules that apply to your ERISA plan, you have to get the Plan's Summary Plan Description (abbreviated "SPD"). For example, if you want to know what you have to prove to show that you are disabled under your company's ERISA Long Term Disability Plan, you need to read the SPD. Do not rely on what they tell you on the phone or write you in a letter.

So, how do you get the SPD? Write a letter to the Plan Administrator asking for it and giving them an address where they can mail a copy back to you. That is often an insurance company that runs the plan for your employer. If you do not know who the Plan Administrator is, follow these rules:

· Send a letter asking for the SPD to your employer’s Human Resources or Employee Benefits office.

· If you are in a union plan, send it to the Union local and headquarters.

· If the plan relates to insurance, send a copy of the letter to the insurance company. If you are not sure of the insurance company’s address, look online or call “800” directory assistance and see if they have a toll free number. Call them and ask their street address for deliveries (you need that address, not a P.O. Box, to send the letter by FedEx, UPS or similar delivery).

· If it is a pension or 401k plan, send it to the employer and the investment administrator.

When you send your letters, be sure to send each copy by U.S. Postal Service certified mail or overnight delivery, FedEx, UPS, or some other way that has a tracking number, so you can prove it was received and the day it was received. You may be sending it to more than one person or company, so be sure to send each one by a verifiable method.

The ERISA law gives the plan administrator 30 days to send you a copy after they get your letter. If you can't prove when they got it, you can't count the 30 days (that is one reason why you must send it by FedEx, UPS, etc.). If you do not receive the Summary Plan Description 30 days after they receive it, I recommend that you call an ERISA benefits Attorney.

Copyright (c) 2011 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. If you need help with an ERISA claim in Florida or anywhere in the United States, call Tampa ERISA Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

What is an ERISA Summary Plan Description and How Do I Get Mine?

If you have benefits through work, your employer or union benefit plan is required by law to have a document that summarizes the key terms of the benefit plan. The law is called ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The summary is just that, a summary of the rules of the Plan. However, the law does not require that they give you a copy of the full rule book. Instead, that have to give you a summary, called the Summary Plan Description (abbreviated as “SPD”). You only get a copy if you ask for it, and the administrator of the ERISA Plan has 30 days to give you a copy of the SPD.

If you ever have to make a claim for benefits under your employer's or union's plan, be sure to get a copy of the SPD. It tells you what benefits are offered under the Plan, as well what the qualifications are to get the benefit you are seeking. We recommend that you ask for both the Plan Document and the Summary Plan Description to make sure you know all of the rules that apply to your Plan. Send a letter to your employer and the administrator (for example, the Plan's insurance company) asking for these documents by certified mail or some other method you can track (like overnight delivery carriers with tracking numbers). If they do not send you the documents within 30 days, send a second copy of the letter by overnight deliver with a tracking number. If they still don't send you the documents, call an ERISA attorney.

Copyright (c) 2011 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim or ERISA Disability benefit claim, call Florida ERISA Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

What is an ERISA Plan?

An ERISA Plan is a group benefit plan that is subject to the federal ERISA law. That is any benefit plan offered by a private employer, not a government or a church.

An ERISA Plan may also refer to the document that spells out the benefit plan's terms.

If you are making a claim under your employer's ERISA benefit plan, be sure to read the plan's terms to see if you qualify for benefits. Courts enforce the language in ERISA Plans to the letter. You will not know what you have to show to get the benefit you are seeking if you do not know the terms of the Plan.

If your ERISA claim is denied, you should immediately contact an attorney that handles ERISA claims and lawsuits to assist you with your appeal. Your ERISA Plan should spell out the claim appeal procedures. However, it likely will not tell you that you have to appeal to the administrator before you can file a lawsuit. It also will not tell you that if you fail to get all of the evidence submitted that you will want considered in a lawsuit, then you will not be allowed to submit the evidence in court. You may feel you can appeal your claim on your own, but we recommend that you at least get an opinion from an ERISA lawyer before you submit the appeal to make sure you are doing what you need to do.

Copyright (c) 2011 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim or ERISA Disability benefit claim, call ERISA Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260 for a free consultation.

As Union Ranks Drop, More Employers are Providing Disability and Health benefits, So You Better Know What ERISA Is.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that that union membership in the United States continues to decline. It is more important than ever to understand ERISA - the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, because the vast majority of employee benefits are being provided by employers. ERISA was passed in 1974 after 10 years of study to reform the nation's pension system. When the law was finalized, ALL employee benefits - not just pensions - were incorporated into ERISA's framework. Even when employers make you share in the cost of coverage, it is covered by ERISA. Today, that means that workers (and many small business owners that join their employees in company sponsored disability, health, and life insurance plans) must live with the harsh aspects of ERISA.

Why is ERISA so harsh? If you submit a claim under your group disability, health, or life plan (or your pension), there are very short and strict time deadlines that apply to many aspects of your claim. Depending on the type of claim, you may have as short as 2 days and no more than 180 days to file an appeal. What many people do not know is that any appeal under most ERISA plans must include all (yes, ALL) of the evidence you ever would want a court to consider. That's right, if you have to file suit, the court will only look at the evidence in the insurance company's claim file in most cases.

You don't even get a jury in court. You get a federal judge looking at a pile of paper. The method the judge has to use is so convoluted that even most lawyers don't understand it. If you win, you might (yes, MIGHT) get your attorney's fees paid, but in many cases you won't. Often, the claimant is left holding the bag for the cost of proving you were right to begin with. To say that ERISA is slanted towards insurance companies, employers, and yes - unions, would be an understatement.

The government's report revealed that union membership fell to 11.9 percent of U.S. workers in 2010. That means that 612,000 left union ranks last year, now down to 14.7 million members.When ERISA was passed, many unions provided health and disability coverage, in addition to retirement pensions. Unions used to sponsor and pay for their own benefit plans. Most employers just buy insurance and pay an insurance company to run their plans. Today, at least one major union has sold off its health plan to an employer, and others are not offering these types of benefits at all. As unions become less and less of a factor, employees are more dependent than ever on employers getting good coverage and finding administrators that will fairly enforce the benefit plan's rules. Unfortunately, many insurance companies do not treat claims fairly, and claimants have to know when to appeal.

If you have a group benefit claim denied, call an attorney that handles ERISA claims. Ask how many ERISA cases that lawyer has handled. Make sure they know ERISA. If they don't, it could cost you a lot of money.




Copyright (c) 2010 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

What is ERISA?

What is ERISA?

ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law passed by Congress in 1974. President Nixon signed ERISA into law after 10 years of study designed to reform the nation's pension system.

Congress ultimately included employer-provided insurance benefits as part of the law. That is why most Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Health, and Life Insurance benefits that are offered by private employers are covered by ERISA. ERISA applies only to employee benefits provided by private employers. If you work for a government entity or a church, ERISA will not apply to your claim. However, any private employer (even a small company with only one employee other than the owner) that provides employee benefits will be subject to ERISA.

With certain exceptions, ERISA creates one uniform system to administer these group benefit programs sponsored by employers. However, this “uniform system” is far from uniform. The law actually allows employers to establish nearly any type of benefit plan they wish, as long as they provide certain documents to employees and allow for an appeal when benefits are denied.

No matter which lawyer your hire, if you have a group benefit claim covered by ERISA, make sure your lawyer has experience handling ERISA cases. There are many differences between ERISA cases and insurance claims regulated by state laws, and if you or your lawyer do not know those differences and how to handle them, it can hurt your case. ERISA Attorney John Tucker is an experienced attorney who has handled over 1000 ERISA benefit claims of all types, including disability insurance, health insurance, life insurance, accidental death, 401k, and pension cases.

Copyright (c) 2010 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

What is ERISA and How Does It Apply to Your Disability Claim?

What is ERISA? It is shorthand for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law passed in 1974 that regulates employee benefits for all private employers (those which are not the government or a church).

What does ERISA have to do with your Short Term Disability ("STD") or Long Term Disability ("LTD") claim? If you have STD or LTD insurance through work, then ERISA applies to your coverage. If you have become disabled and have to file a claim, your claim is going to subject to ERISA. That means that you lose a lot of rights that people who buy individual STD or LTD coverage have under state law. The federal ERISA law allows federal courts, not state courts, to hear ERISA disability claims. ERISA also prohibits jury trials like you might get in state court. Finally, many states require insurance companies that lose disability cases in court to pay your attorney fees, but under ERISA, it is an option that the federal judge may require, but often does not.

Finally, the most important thing to understand about ERISA claims is what is called the "standard of review." This is the method a judge uses to review your claim if it goes to court. Under ERISA, most STD and LTD cases are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard of review on motions submitted by both parties. There is no trial, and the judge has an obligation to uphold a denial if there is any reasonable basis for the insurance company's decision to deny the claim. Compare that to state court where a jury would get to hear from you and your doctors in a real trial if you have bought your own insurance from a local insurance agent outside of work. In fact, all of the evidence in an ERISA case gets created before a case is finally denied. If you have an ERISA claim, be sure to get all of your doctors records, opinion letters, forms and other information in support of your claim in to the administrator BEFORE you get the last denial letter. If you wait, you will not be able to get it into evidence in court.

In many ways, ERISA works in favor of plan administrators - usually an insurance company. You should hire an experienced ERISA attorney if you become disabled and have STD or LTD coverage through work.



Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.

What is ERISA?

ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law passed by Congress in 1974. President Nixon signed ERISA into law after 10 years of study designed to reform the nation's pension system.

Congress ultimately included employer-provided insurance benefits as part of the law. That is why most Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, and other insurance benefits that are offered by private employers are covered by ERISA. Keep in mind that ERISA applies only to employee benefits provided by private employers. If you work for a government entity or a church, ERISA will not apply to your claim. However, any private employer (even a small company with only one employee other than the owner) that provides employee benefits will be subject to ERISA.

With certain exceptions, ERISA creates one uniform system to administer these group benefit programs sponsored by employers. However, this “uniform system” is far from uniform. The law actually allows employers to establish nearly any type of benefit plan they wish, as long as they provide certain documents to employees and allow for an appeal when benefits are denied.

There are many differences between group benefit cases covered by ERISA and individual insurance claims regulated by state laws. If you or your lawyer do not know those differences and how to handle them, it can hurt your case. ERISA is much less consumer-friendly than state insurance laws, and the insurance companies that administer ERISA plans hide behind its protections to deny many group disability benefit claims that would not be denied if they were individual insurance claims.

Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. Any content borrowed or referenced from another source is referenced by citation to the original source as noted in the text above.