I'm new to Excess Benefit plans and have an issue I could use some guidance on. ISSUE: Participant in plan received their first statement after more than 20 years in the plan(statement provider sends annual statements to the ER for distribution). Statement said they would receive $20,000 per month for 5 years after retirement. Participant did NOT receive another statement for over 2 years. New statement , two years later, said one time payment of $20,000-(not monthly for 5 years). Participant questioned ER as well as statement provide. Six months later ER instructed statement provider to replace the 2 year old statement to reflect a one time payment of $20,000 not a monthly payment for 5 years.
After further research, I am concerned that other eligible participants were excluded from the plan. The ER is publicly traded and has made statements in their annual report the plan is governed by ERISA. In house legal team does not believe there are any issues. I am concerned that there may be ERISA violations as well as 409 issues. Any thoughts or direction to codes would be appreciated.
