.$ c 

8 

6; u,--v .C.t-, 

#h %k 30 13 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

i 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

3 

Re: Appeal Republic Retirement Plan (the 

"Plan") 

The Appeals Board reviewed the appeal of PBGC's March 5, 1999 

determination of your guaranteed benefit under the Plan. The 

appeal was filed by your former attorney, the late 71 

on your behalf. For the reasons we state below, we have 

changed PBGC's determination by finding that PBGC will not ask you 

to repay overpayments, if a+, that you may have received before 

age 65. 

PBGC's determination letter said that you were entitled to a 

monthly pension payment 0.f $280.52 payable as a Straight Life 

Annuity, which provides a benefit for your lifetime and no survivor 

benefit, but that, effective January 1, 1994, your net monthly 

basic paymentis $0.00 because your worker's compensation payments 

are larger than your monthly annuity. 

The letter said that because you received estimated monthly 

payments of $376.66 that were larger than the $280.52 monthly 

payments you were entitled to receive from January 1991 thorough 

November 1993, you had been overpaid. The letter asked you to , remit a payment of $3,364.90. 

Inarch 22, 1999 appeal letter, he said that you 

should not have to repay the $3,364.90 because you had already 

completed making payments under a payment plan with PBGC under 

which PBGC received full repayment of the overpayments that you had 

received. did not raise any issue regarding your 

workers' compensation payments, which PBGC offset against your 

monthly Plan benefit payable after age 65, resulting in a 

post-age-65 PBGC benefit of $0. 

Please note that the payments that you agreed to and did repay 

to PBGC were for overpayments that you received after age 65. The 

overpayment amount of $3,364.90 stated in PBGC's determination 

letter was based on the benefits you received from PBGC before you 

Best Copy 

Available 

PBGC - DMC 
attained age 65. 

However, in previous Appeals Board decisions for other Plan 

participants, the Board found that PBGC had erroneously applied a 

guaranteed benefit limitation found in PBGC regulations called the 

"accrued at normal" limit. That is, the Board has previously found 

that the accrued at normal limit does not apply to participants 

receiving Plan. benefits under the Plan's Permanent Incapacity 

Retirement type. Your PBGC Benefit Statement clearly indicates 

that you are receiving a Plan benefit based on the Permanent 

Incapacity (disability) Retirement type,.and thus, PBGC improperly 

applied the accrued at normal limit to yourpre-age-65 Plan-defined 

benefit. It thus appears that as a result of your previous 

repayment of the post-age-65 payments that you received in error, 

your overpayment balance is now $0. 

~urthermore, due to a change in PBGC1s policy concerning 

PBGC1s efforts to seek repayment of previous overpayments through 

small reductions in future PBGC benefit payments, which went into 

effect after-PBGC sent your determination letter, the Appeals Board 

found that even if your overpayment balance were larger than $0. 

PBGC will not require you to repay any remaining overpayment. 

Please note that if your workers' compensation payments were 

to decrease or stop before you die (other than by commutation of 

the future monthly payments for life into a one-time lump-sum 

payment), PBGC benefits could once again become payable. Please 

keep PBGC informed of any decrease or cessation of your workersn 

compensation payments. 

Having applied PBGC's rules to the facts in this case, the 

Appeals Board changed PBGC's determination by finding that PBGC 

will not ask you to repay overpayments, if any, that you may have 

received before age 65. 

This is the agency's final decision on the issues raised in 

Mr. Vesmas's appeal. We regret the delay in resolv-ing this appeal 

and appreciate your patience while we completed our review. 

Sincerely, 

Michel Louis 

Appeals Board Member 

Best copy 

Available 

PBGC - DMC