The Minnesota office of the Upper Midwest Pension Rights Project has recovered a record $1,489,096 for those seeking assistance from the project in the 12-month period from March 31, 2005 through March 31, 2006. This number does not include amounts recovered through UMPRP offices in Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin. Taking into account all UMPRP offices, the total amount recovered in the 12-month period is $2,209,652. This amount represents the value of benefits earned by participants or due their beneficiaries or former spouses that for one reason or another were improperly denied to them. This more than doubles the amount recovered in the previous 12-month period.

Recoveries range in value from several thousand to several hundred thousand dollars, depending on the circumstances of the individual UMPRP client. More than one-third of these recoveries were obtained by dedicated employee benefits attorneys from Twin Cities law firms volunteering their time pro bono on behalf of the project’s clients. The rest of the recoveries were obtained solely through the efforts of the project’s staff and a team of volunteer law school students working through the Minnesota Justice Foundation.

The project, now in its 13th year, is funded primarily through the U.S. Administration on Aging and matching grants. It is one of six regional pension counseling projects funded through the AoA. The goal of the pension counseling projects is to provide no-cost counseling and assistance with pension claims and appeals; help locate companies/plan administrators for former employees who are ready to retire; refer callers to actuaries, private attorneys, legal aid or other resources when appropriate; and provide education and outreach to individuals and groups that require it, particularly women, minorities and rural and low-income retirees who should be eligible for pension benefits.

The Minnesota office took 130 calls this past year. It served more men than women, but that is not always the case. The largest income category for callers is $10,000-$20,000 per year, not a lot to live on by today’s standards. For many clients, their pension is their only income besides Social Security, so it is crucial they receive assistance with an improper pension denial or finding a plan administrator to initiate receiving pension payments.

Though the project only obtains recoveries for about one-fourth of the total cases opened, most clients are very appreciative of the assistance they receive, regardless of whether or not the project was able to help them recover a benefit.

The project often gets calls from people who received a notice from the Social Security Administration referencing a “potential deferred vested pension benefit,” but do know who to contact to get the pension since the company has gone out of business. In one case, even after project staff located the company and the client applied for her benefit, the company only gave her one-fourth of the amount she was due. If UMPRP had not been involved, she would never have known she was entitled to a larger amount. Several other cases involved division of pension benefits at divorce or incorrect pension amounts calculated by the plan administrator. Another involved the widow of a man who unexpectedly died. His plan administrator provided confusing pension application information, resulting in a denial of the survivor option sought by the couple even though the plan was on notice as the couple’s intent. Thanks to the UMPRP and the pro-bono assistance of a private employee benefits attorney, the plan reversed their original decision and paid the correct benefit.

If you or anyone you know needs assistance with a pension problem or has a question, go to the project’s web page at www.mnseniors.org, or call 612/783-5021 or toll free, 866/783-5021.