While most Members of the Teamsters’ National Benefit Plan have valid claims and continue to abide by the rules of the Plan, we are sometimes faced with the issue of Plan abuse.
These problems take various forms:
- the Plan not being advised when a Spouse has coverage under another benefit plan
- the Plan not being advised of a marital break-up or other situations where Dependents are no longer eligible for coverage
- the disability claimant who attempts to deceive physicians and in turn claims’ adjudicators in order to access benefits
- the disability claimant who returns to work without notifying the Plan and continues to cash disability cheques
- the Member who ignores their agreement with the Plan to repay benefits on receipt of ICBC or WCB settlement, leaving the Plan with legal costs to pursue recovery of the money
- Altered receipts or other documents.
Those of us the Plan’s office do our utmost to prevent abuse of your Plan, nevertheless it does occur. Recovering the resulting overpayments is costly and impacts all Members. The continuing financial stability of the Plan is critical to future Plan improvements and to the provision of benefits to those Members who have legitimate claims and truly need the coverage.
Let’s all work together to end misuse and exploitation of your Benefit Plan!
