South Central Pension Rights Project verifies client’s earnings record to retrieve pension

When companies go out of business or change hands, their pension plans can be affected. Sometimes, a company will terminate its pension plan and purchase annuities from an insurance company for people who are entitled to receive benefits. Unfortunately, mistakes sometimes happen that can result in someone who should receive a pension slipping through the cracks. 

This was the situation facing Ed, when he contacted the South Central Pension Rights Project. Ed had worked for Missouri Rolling Mill as an overhead crane operator. When the company terminated its pension plan, it purchased annuities for its employees. Years later, when Ed retired and tried to claim his annuity from the insurance company, he was told that his name was not among those on the list of people who were entitled to receive a pension and that he would not receive an annuity.

After speaking with Ed, the counseling project staff knew they would have to verify that Ed had worked for the company and that he was entitled to a pension. Their years of experience had taught them that an easy way to verify Ed’s employment would be to request a Social Security Earnings Statement. And they were right. Once it was faced with evidence that Ed had worked for the company for 13 years and was entitled to a pension, the insurance company started making monthly payments to Ed, an amount worth nearly $33,000 over his expected lifetime.

The South Central Pension Rights Project covers Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. To date, the project has recovered more than $9 million in retirement benefits for its clients. The project may be reached at (800) 443-2528 or online at www.southcentralpension.org.