Finding a Lost Pension

If you find the company (or its successor), you will then have to find out what happened to the plan. You are likely to end up in contact with one of three sources of your money:

	The plan administrator of your pension plan (or of another plan into which yours has been incorporated).
	An insurance company to which the funds in the plan have been transferred for the purpose of paying annuities to eligible participants.
	PBGC, in case it took over your pension plan’s obligations, or in case your defined benefit plan was terminated and its plan administrator used PBGC’s missing participants program when it couldn’t find you.

Regardless of which of these has the pension money, your approach to them – your next step – should be similar.

Initial Contact

Write to the plan administrator, or to the insurance company, giving your dates of employment and enclosing a copy of the most recent individual benefit statement that you have. Ask if you were covered and what benefits you are entitled to. Ask for a copy of the summary plan description. If they deny that you are entitled to a pension, you can read the document to see whether you agree with that decision or not.

Send the letter by Certified Mail, requesting a return receipt.

If Not Satisfied

If it is an insurance company that controls the pension fund, then the initial response that they give you is fairly certain to be final. An insurance company, at the point when it undertakes responsibility for a plan, accepts the employer’s records regarding (a) who the participants in the plan are and (b) what benefits each participant is entitled to. PBGC also accepts the employer’s records, but PBGC’s initial findings regarding an individual’s benefits are subject to an appeal process. If you have documents proving that the records are incorrect, you may correct the information.

If the pension plan is still intact (or has been incorporated into another employer– sponsored pension plan) you also have the possibility of recourse. If the plan administrator says you are not eligible for a pension but you aren’t convinced, or if the pension benefits do not seem to add up to what you are entitled to, then you should get advice. The best initial sources are:

	The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) of the U. S. Department of Labor (see Appendix B).
	A pension counseling project if there is one in your area (see Appendix C).

A PWBA benefit advisor or a pension counselor can look over your records and advise you as to whether you have been given fair treatment. If you haven’t, they can give you free assistance in getting the benefits to which you are entitled. They may intervene on your behalf with the plan administrator and will advise you about, or assist you in utilizing, the plan’s appeals procedure if necessary.

Other Sources of Help

If you should decide you need a lawyer to represent you, the National Pension Lawyers Network maintains a list of attorneys, in all 50 states, that handle pension claims. The Network can be reached at (617) 287- 7332. Before deciding to undergo the expense of retaining a lawyer, however, you should satisfy yourself that the amount of money that is potentially involved is worth the cost.

The American Academy of Actuaries maintains a pension help registry consisting of actuaries willing to volunteer to help people check the accuracy of pension calculations. The Academy is at 1720 Eye St., NW, 7th floor, Washington, DC 20006, (202) 223- 8196.

The National Pension Rights Center (1140 19th St., NW, Suite 602, Washington, DC 20036, phone (202) 296- 3776) may be able to steer you in the right direction for getting help.