Retirement Plan Benefit Claims

To be fully secure in your retirement, you will likely need to rely on income and savings from several different sources; Social Security benefits or personal savings are rarely enough. For many people, a significant portion of their anticipated retirement income will come from their employer-sponsored retirement plan. When the day comes to draw from this plan, you need to know that you will be able to get the full financial compensation that you are owed.

Far too frequently, retirement plan claims are wrongly denied or significantly underpaid by the retirement plan or its fiduciaries. At The Garner Firm, our aggressive Philadelphia retirement plan claims attorney, Adam H. Garner, has extensive experience handling these types of cases. In fact, he spent several years of his career administering large retirement plans. If your retirement plan claim was denied, please do not hesitate to contact our office today for legal assistance.

Retirement Plan Claims and ERISA

The majority of employer-based retirement plans are regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). This federal law requires retirement plans to conform to certain legal standards regarding their funding, structure and administration. ERISA also regulates the process for claims and appeals against these retirement plans.

There are, broadly speaking, two types of ERISA-regulated retirement plans: defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Defined benefit plans are typically traditional pension plans that provide retirees with a set monthly retirement benefit for the retiree’s life (and sometimes for the life of the retiree’s spouse if he or she survives the retiree). In the past, defined benefit pension plans were common for nearly all large employers. Today, many older workers still have access to a defined benefit pension plan benefit. In addition, many union workers, as well as government employees, still have the opportunity to participate in a traditional defined benefit pension plan.

Defined contribution plans are most often 401(k) or 403(b) plans, which provide the retiree with a tax advantaged savings account during their working life. After retiring, a defined contribution plan participant typically has access to the full balance of his or her retirement savings and is responsible for managing that savings by him- or herself. In today’s work environment, participation in a defined contribution plan is more common than participation in a defined benefit plan.

Often, claims requiring legal counsel could arise related to a retiree’s entitlement to retirement benefit, the calculation of the retiree’s benefit, or whether the retiree has engaged in conduct that caused his or her benefit to be suspended. In addition, sometimes the retirement plan will make a mistake and overpay a claim. Retirement plans will attempt to make the retiree pay for their mistake by demanding repayment or reducing the retiree’s benefit going forward. If you are having a problem with receiving your retirement benefits, then you should contact an experienced employee benefits lawyer today.

Contact Our Philadelphia Retirement Plan Claims Attorneys

At The Garner Firm, we have helped many people recover the full and fair retirement benefits that they deserve. If your retirement plan claim was denied, our ERISA attorney Adam H. Garner is standing by, ready to help. To set up your free case evaluation, please call us our Philadelphia office today at (215) 645-5955 or contact us through our website.