Disaster Relief Distribution - Declared Disaster

When determining if a disaster qualifies for the SECURE 2.0 disaster relief distributions and loans, is there a "level" of declared relief that determines if a participant can request a SECURE 2.0 disaster related distribution or loan?

For example, I am on the FEMA site looking at the Hurrican Milton disaster page for Florida.  They provide a map showing the designated areas (attached).  On this particular map there are 4 levels of designated areas.  The categories listed are Public Assistance (Category B), Public Assistance (Categories A-G), Individual Assistance and Public Assistance (Categories A and B), and Individual Assistance and Public Assistance (Categories A-G).

Do all of these categories qualify as a designated area for purposes of requesting a SECURE 2.0 disaster relief distribution or loan?

Thank you very much.

dec_4834.pdf

Lots of answers in this thread.

Thanks RBG.  So is the consensus that guidance is needed to confirm if a qualified disaster is only one in which Individual Assistance is offered?  What did you end up doing with the participant who lived in the Public Assistance only area?

Thank you.

I think a reasonable interpretation is that any level of assistance in a major disaster area will qualify (absent further guidance).  I'm comfortable defending that interpretation should they come out with further guidance that limits it.

Got it, thank you.

Consider also circumstances in which an administrator may or must not rely on a participant’s self-certification that she is a qualified individual.

1 hour ago, Peter Gulia said:

Consider also circumstances in which an administrator may or must not rely on a participant’s self-certification that she is a qualified individual.

I feel like there is a warning in there.  So let's say the Plan Administrator is relying on self-certification and is aware that the participant lives in a declared disaster area where only Public Assistance is available.  Are you thinking this would not qualify, or am I misreading your post entirely?

Thanks very much.

I am not thinking about what level of assistance the government provides and how that relates to whether a place is a disaster area for a disaster-recovery loan or distribution.

Rather, I wonder whether a plan’s administrator may rely on a claim’s statement that the claimant is a qualified individual.

Or, must the claims-processing look at the participant’s address and screen out for further review a claim of a participant who seems to live nowhere near any of the recent disaster areas?

Many plans have so automated claims procedures that a claim not processed wholly electronically is a serious disruption.

A process that might require a human to read a claim is a pain-in-the-assets.

5 minutes ago, Peter Gulia said:

A process that might require a human to read a claim is a pain-in-the-assets.

I see, thank you for that clarification.  Luckly for me and my group we mostly handle smaller plans so the number of times this may come up will hopefully be limited, but I do understand what you are saying.  Right now the process at least with the recordkeeper involved is a paper process so the Plan Administrator is pretty involved, but I can see when systems are updated to allow for online requests your concern being an issue.  Thank you.