Contact: Susan McDonald
415-482-9611
susanm@pbinfo.com
PBI Announces Innovative Solution to Eliminate Pension Overpayments and Reduce Funding Liabilities Through Continuous Monitoring
San Rafael, CA (August 26, 2010) — Pension Benefit Information (PBI), http://pbinfo.com, the leading provider of participant research services, today announced the release of the Platinum Web-Based Death Audit Service – an innovative solution for plan sponsors and third party administrators to eliminate overpayments and reduce future funding liabilities through continuous monitoring of plan participants.
The recent financial crisis’ has put immense pressure on pension funding and brought pension plan governance into the spotlight with unprecedented scrutiny. The fact that many pension plans are severely underfunded is compounded by the onset of “baby boomers” reaching retirement age, which further increases funding liabilities. “Our clients need a service that can efficiently verify deaths while also maintaining accurate participant records in the wake of this crisis to reduce costs and meet fiduciary responsibilities”, says Sue McDonald president of Pension Benefit Information.
“The introduction of PBI’s Platinum Web-Based service has changed the paradigm for tracking deaths among pension plan participants.” Previously clients would upload a data file and PBI would generate a periodic report. Now, PBI continuously monitors participant records each time new data is updated in our database and sends notifications every time a new death occurs. Clients now control when to review this information in a Just-in-time manner.
PBI’s Platinum Death Audit Service had transformed once static death audit reports into a dynamic online experience where users can easily access the most up to date information to create fully customizable reports according to their unique requirements. Collecting pension overpayments can be a costly, and in many cases unsuccessful, proposition. PBI has leveraged the improved reporting capabilities of the SSA and State Vital Records with their browser-based application providing a proactive approach to eliminate overpayments. “The goal of this service is to boost our client’s productivity through a more consistent workflow, ensure payments are only sent to those entitled, and provide peace-of-mind the plan is acting in the best interest of participants.”
Here’s what one PBI client had to say about the new Platinum Death Audit Service: “If we don’t find out about a participant’s death and continue to pay them for a month or longer, we often have to ask for that money back from the estate. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get the money back! With this service, we have almost eliminated “over-paying” because we find out about the deaths so immediately. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to use this service!”
–Continue Reading–
PBI’s Platinum Death Audit Application also comes with a revolutionary Hits Tracker tool that tracks the follow-up activities that occur after a death has been reported. “We realize that once a death is reported there’s a unique set of tasks that need to take place. This tool is designed to manage the workflow of those activities while providing oversight to management and peers”, said McDonald. It’s fully customizable allowing multiple, simultaneous users access and designed to support your company’s specific corporate requirements, from the first time a death is reported until payment is stopped. Hits Tracker will ensure that all tasks are completed promptly and efficiently.
PBI designed this service with data security, flexibility, and ease-of-use as our number one priorities. This enables companies and third-party administrators to more effectively manage their pension plan population, while eliminating the chances of pension fraud. Simple Click Follow-Up Services provide immediate access to locate beneficiaries, retrieve Death Certificates, and obtain obituaries all securely right from your desktop with a simple click.
Email: inquiry@pbinfo.com
Call: 415-482-9611.
For over 30 years, companies have trusted PBI to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date death information available. Our proprietary death database and reporting format are considered the de facto standard in the industry. PBI provides more than just individual services; we provide solutions to participant data integrity problems that result from either missing and/or wrong information. PBI has successfully reunited over 1.7M participants with their benefits for a variety of reasons including terminating DB/DC plans, un-cashed checks, mandatory distributions, locating beneficiaries, ect.. PBI is proud to have been awarded the NBC “Heartbeat of America” award for its outstanding efforts in reuniting pension plan participants with their lost retirement benefits.
Federal pension payments follow some retirees into the grave