Affirmative legal action
LPP committee extends coverage, continues to increase support for members
NJ State PBA Legal Protection Plan Administrator Kevin Lyons and
LPP Committee Chairman Margaret Hammond presented a state of
the state of the plan at the annual mini-convention in March. The
report was so favorable that the ovation attendees gave after the presentation might still be reverberating across the state.
The news of the committee’s commitment to further enhance the
benefits offered to PBA members included:
Hammond announced new changes in the LPP that will take effect
on claims after May 1, 2015.
The committee has decided that the target coverage, which has
produced incredible results, can be extended past the $750 limit for
Internal Affairs investigations and beyond the $3,500 limit for criminal
investigations in special circumstances by the plan administrator or
the Committee. This extension will allow the member to use their
administrative or criminal coverage respectfully to enhance their target coverage.
Coupled with this, the committee has decided to increase the
administrative coverage to $26,000 per enrollment period to include
the administrative coverage.
Also, Hammond and Lyons provided an update on the finances of
the plan. The report noted:
There are currently 2,122 open
claims.
The plan has had 8,339 claims
since it became self-funded and
has paid out more than $21 million
THE
LPP
SECTION
Edmond P. Brady, CPA – Partner
ebrady@mbccpa.com
Responsible for more than 300 PBA’s in
New Jersey and New York
Licensed in NJ, NY and Mass.
Livingston, NJ • Yonkers, NY
Phone (973) 535-2880 • www.mbccpa.com
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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MARCH 2015
in claims during that time.
The plan is fiscally healthy and has adequate reserves to cover all
open claims, including an over $2,000,000 self insured excess policy
that can be used if it suffers a traumatic year.
Finally, Hammond and Lyons reported that through the LPP there
,
has been great success in subrogating clams. The LPP has recovered
more than $121,000 in fees when an employer has been found
responsible for attorney fees. They confirmed that the PBA through
the LPPP will continue to pursue employers who wrongly charge
members. d