18 LEGAL PROTECTION PLAN UPDATE
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
And now…the latest changes to the Plan
During the last week of
February, the Legal Protection Plan Committee
adjourned to make major
revisions to the plan for
introduction at the March
Mini-Convention. The
plan changes will be effective in the new plan year
starting with claims
(charges) dated on, or
after, May 1, 2014.
The current financial status of the plan
made it possible to institute the changes,
and the plan will be consistently monitored
to make sure that it is maintained to provide benefits to all of its members for perpetuity.
When we brought the plan in-house, we
were hemorrhaging money. The excess
reserve account had slipped far below the
$2 million mark. That fund is to ensure that
we have excess money if we ever get to a
point that we are expending more that we
were taking in.
Prior to this, the coverage aggregates
were all increased to their current level
without increasing the rates. In 2009, the
rates were changed to return the plan to fiscal responsibility without having to spend
the money on an excess policy to protect
us. This rate change is allowing us to make
these changes without increasing the rates
today.
The following are the changes that the
committee agreed to make to the plan
effective with claims in plan year 2014:
•
Criminal coverage will be increased
from $40,000 to $50,000.
•
Civil Coverage will be increased from
$40,000 to $50,000.
•
Administrative coverage will be
increased from $20,000 to $25,000.
•
For matters where your weapon is
taken, the plan will cover an action to
return it to you even if the action is the
result of a domestic violence matter.
This following will be included in the
administrative coverage portion of the
plan:
•
Delegates must notify the administrator when a member changes attorneys.
•
A member must notify the plan
administrator if he or she files a lawsuit against an employer that is related to or as a result of a claim the plan
has paid on and will agree to reimburse the plan if they are successful.
•
All Executive Board members will be
provided civil coverage when acting
in their union capacity.
•
By accepting coverage, members
Kevin C.
Lyons
waive attorney-client privilege with
regards to billing matters.
•
Sheriff’s investigators will only be
covered for dismissals for cause.
Another change in the plan has been an
increase in the hourly rate for attorneys
from $125 to $130. This is the first raise
since 2006, and with the increase, the following will be in effect:
•
Any attorney that is a member of the
PBA LPP may not take part in another legal services plan from any other
law enforcement organization.
•
An attorney will be removed from the
plan if they represent another law
enforcement group in a PERC action
against a PBA unit.
•
Only two attorneys may work on a
claim without permission.
•
Anytime a reprimand is offered to a
member, it must be disclosed to the
plan administrator.
As you can see, there is a significant
amount of increase in liability to the plan
with regards to the amounts and, as previously stated, I will monitor the finances of
the plan in order to determine the fiscal
health going forward. d
JOB WELL DONE
The NJSPBA Legal Protection Plan Committee
This month’s “Job Well Done” goes to the State Delegates that make up the NJ State PBA
Legal Protection Plan Committee, for their hard work, vision and dedication to the membership.
Not satisfied with already being widely recognized as the best
plan available for the defense and protection of law enforcement
officers in the State of New Jersey, and on the heels of a change
last month that provides the members with HR-218 coverage anywhere in the U.S., the committee has this month again increased
the Administrative, Criminal, Civil and Union Officer coverage, and
given the attorneys on our plan a raise.
Since the PBA brought the LPP in house under the watchful eye
of Administrator Kevin Lyons, it has steadily grown and improved
from its initial beginnings and solid foundation to become self-funded, fiscally solid and at the top of its game. While the coverage
increases and additional benefits which took effect immediately are
good n