Welcome to ERISA  Pros

ERISA - SPD - Form 5500 -

ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) is a set of federal laws and regulations that govern Health & Welfare Benefit Plans and Qualified Retirement Plans. Employers must have a written Plan Document and are required to deliver a Summary Plan Description (SPD) to their Participants—regardless of how many employees participate. The SPD is the main vehicle for communicating Plan rights to Participants. Employers must also prepare and file a Form 5500 for each Plan with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and deliver a summary of it, a Summary Annual Report (SAR), to each Participant—unless it meets the strict criteria for the Small Plan Exception.

Does ERISA Apply to You? -

A great many employers are not in compliance and are not aware of it. Yet, almost every employer, regardless of its size or number of employees, must comply with ERISA. The only exceptions are church and government plans. Most employee benefit plans are subject to ERISA's requirements—whether they are insured or self-insured. There are very few exceptions to ERISA's applicability.

It is mission critical for every employer to be in compliance before a problem arises. By the time the DOL knocks on your door or an employee lawsuit surfaces, it is too late. Failure to comply with ERISA can result in unnecessary, time consuming, and expensive penalties and employee lawsuits.

Wrap SPD & 5500 Preparation -

We provide ERISA compliance services, focusing on the documents that ERISA requires for Health & Welfare Benefit Plans, such as group

• medical,
• dental,
• life, and
• disability insurance policies.

We help employers get into compliance with ERISA laws and then stay in compliance. That's all we do. We don't sell insurance or any other products—just Plan Documents, wrap SPDs, prepare Form 5500s, Summary Annual Reports (SAR), Summary of Material Modifications (SMM), and other documents, consulting, and services necessary for employers to comply with ERISA.

A common misperception held by even experienced insurance brokers, consultants, Human Resources and Benefits personnel, accountants, and attorneys is that an insurance company's group insurance policy or Certificate of Insurance is an SPD. However, Certificates of Insurance are not SPDs because they rarely contain all of the required ERISA language. An employer must prepare an ERISA "wrapper." Together, the SPD wrapper and the Certificate of Insurance constitute a compliant SPD.

Another common misperception is who is responsible for preparing, filing, and delivering wrap SPDs and Form 5500s. Most employers believe their broker, insurance carrier, accountant, or perhaps even their lawyer is taking care of this. However, ERISA compliance is solely the employer's responsibility.

Why ERISA Pros? -

Our compliance specialists have years of experience based knowledge and training in ERISA and employee benefit plans.

We are proactive. We gather the information required to prepare customized documents that match the unique needs of each employer. We don't just send you a blank document or a template and hope that you can and will fill it out correctly. We contact our clients every year to see if their documents need updating. During the year, we are available to answer questions about the documents we prepared. We strive to anticipate and then exceed our clients' expectations.

Our proprietary Wrap-Tight^sm system of preparing Plan Documents, SPD wrappers, and Form 5500s is based on industry best practices. This allows us to be efficient and effective so that we can deliver state-of-the-art documents at an affordable cost.

You have nothing to lose, and perhaps much to gain, from a complimentary initial consultation with one of our compliance specialists. You will know, from this initial consultation, how long it will take and how much it will cost to create your wrap SPD document and prepare your 5500 to bring your plans into full ERISA compliance.

Best of all, we are easy to work with, responsive, and professional.