Client Success Stories
At Mid-America Pension Rights Project, we have helped retirees get over $34 million! Here are just a few of our success stories:
Donna Blyski's Surviving Spouse Pension
Allegan County Woman Recovers $76,000 in Pension Benefits
An Allegan County widow had been trying for two years to find out why certain death benefits had stopped being paid to her. She had been widowed for fifteen years and worked part time to supplement her income. Her husband's former employer had merged with another company but she could not determine which one. She had been was shuffled from one company to another, each company claiming that another company was responsible for her husband's benefits. None of the companies were able to find her or her husbands information in their computer system. When she was unable to determine which company had responsibility for her husband's benefits she called the Mid-America Pension Rights Project (MAPRP) for help.
It took five months of perseverance but we resolved several issues for our client. First, we located the insurance company responsible her death benefits and received an explanation as to why the benefits stopped. But we did not stop there. We then took the next step in inquiring whether she was entitled to any pension benefits. We encountered the same maze of employers claiming that another company was responsible for the pension. Finally, after many letters and phone calls we discovered the company responsible for the pension benefits due our client. Upon acquiring his file, it was determined that our client was owed almost $20,000 in retroactive pay from the date her husband would have retired, to the present time. Additionally, she would receive monthly payments for her lifetime. Her total benefits recovered are estimated at $76,850.25!
Jackson County Client
A 55-year-old Jackson County man contacted us because he was having difficulty applying for his pension benefit. The company he worked for had left Michigan and relocated elsewhere. He tried to contact the company managing the pension fund for 8 months, but the company did not respond to his letters and the 1-800 number never connected him with a person. He then contacted us for assistance. We were able to find a person to speak with at the company which was managing the pension fund and they began searching their files for our client's employment information. During this time another company had purchased his former employer. They had the client's employment information and stated that they had sent our client his first pension check. When we called to verify this with the client he said he had not received a pension check. We worked with the new company to get their records up to date regarding the client's address. As a result our client is now receiving his monthly pension check for a total benefit of approximately $47,738.46!
