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Death Audit Services
Ensure your participant information is up-to-date and accurate
Death audits are a crucial component of pension plan management. Done correctly, they help businesses ensure the accuracy of plan participant information and prevent invalid and fraudulent claims.
October Three is your expert partner in the death audit process, from cost control to legal compliance to participant communication. Performing an audit doesn't look the same for every business, so we customize our services to meet your company's needs.
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Our Services
By leveraging our death audit expertise, your company can enhance its operational efficiency, protect its finances and uphold its commitment to accuracy and accountability.
Participant and beneficiary accuracy
By conducting a review of your pension plan's participants and their beneficiaries, we can update records and remove deceased individuals from the active participant list, ensuring accurate distribution.
Cost control
We'll promptly identify and process death claims to reduce financial loss and maintain pension plan sustainability.
Regulatory compliance
By identifying plan beneficiaries, confirming eligibility and following proper distribution procedures, we'll ensure that your company's pension plan meets all applicable laws and regulations.
Risk management
Being proactive and identifying pension plan risk protects your financial resources, safeguards your plan's reputation and instills confidence in participants that their funds are managed securely and responsibly.
Participant communication
Transparency and trust are essential when it comes to participant communication. We'll ensure that they receive accurate, thoughtful and timely information per their status in your plan.
Plan funding and financial stability
Death claims can impact plan liability. We'll assess the financial impact of mortality on your plan and provide recommendations for funding and investment adjustments to ensure the plan's long-term sustainability.
How It Works
Phase 1: Collect data & complete death audit
This first phase focuses on gathering the data to complete an accurate death audit. Once complete this initial audit, we can then evaluate results and related evidence to update plan data.
Phase 2: Stop retiree payments
Now, we can eliminate any faults in the plan data and remove ineligible participants. We will then assess overpayments, recall ACH transactions and stop any uncashed checks.
Phase 3: Send letters
In this phase, we contact beneficiaries and estates to communicate survivor benefits and summarize overpayments.
Phase 4: Benefit processing
In this optional phase, we calculate survivor benefits, offset overpayments, create benefit commencement kits and complete election processing. We only complete this phase if it is relevant to your specific needs.
Phase 5: Audit report
With all of this information, we can now create a detailed death audit report which will calculate plan savings and document administrative efforts.
Phase 6: Ongoing support
Our job doesn't stop here – we offer continuous support even after the death audit is complete.
Death Audit FAQs
The goal is to ensure accurate participant information within your company's pension plan. Identifying and removing deceased individuals from the plan's records helps maintain data integrity, prevents erroneous payments and confirms compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.