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I'll do it. (in my best Autin Powers voice) For One. Million. Dollars.

TANSTAAFL. (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.) No one can afford, as a TPA, to provide excessive handholding/telephone time/letters/client visits, etc., for a client who refuses to help themselves, without charging for it. Either the base fee is higher, or there will be hourly charges, or maybe some revenue sharing, or some combination, etc., etc... Or at least no one can afford to do this for free for very long. Those people are called former TPA's. Most good TPA's will provide as much service as you want/need. So the question is: how much is the client willing to pay? If he requires lots of service but isn't willing to pay reasonable fees for the time/services required, then most TPA's are going to drop him as a client. (Well, maybe I shouldn't speak for others - I'll just say that WE would drop him.)

My Firm provides added hand-holding when necessary but we really depend upon the client (or the CPA, Adviser, etc.) to be responsive to our communications. For example, if I send instructions on how to electronically file the 5500, we have procedures in place to send a reminder in 30 days, 60 days, etc. As the deadline gets closer, we will call on the phone. But we have some clients that won't return even our voice messages which leads us to send letters stating something like "If you don't follow our instructions or return our calls, we will not be held responsible....". We, for example, do not sign 5500s for our clients. Maybe there are some other TPAs that do. But, if your client is really interested in "doing the right thing", they need to be aware that there are several things per year that require their attention and action. A good TPA will lay that out for them (and remind them periodically). I also wonder if a client like this is careful with depositing deferrals in a timely fashion. I have found that to be the biggest problem as there is a question on the 5500 which specifically asks that. Most of the national recordkeepers don't monitor this or send reminders that a payroll deferral contribution is due. A client like this might benefit from that added service. Some TPAs may monitor this for the client when using the big recordkeepers but I have not seen that very often. Perhaps looking for a small TPA/Recordkeeper that offers that hand-holding may be a good match for this client. Good luck.

The broker is incorrect. The uniform coverage rule is contained in Section 125, which is part of the Internal Revenue Code and not ERISA. Government employers are generally subject to Code Section 125 in the same way as other employers.