Insurance - HL 324 (1)

Survivor Benefit Helps

On our PCN website we have a page dedicated to info for Survivor Benefits.  With checklists and help numbers of who to call.  Please access this page and keep it handy for your loved ones should St Peter come a callin’:

            http://pcn.homestead.com/DLSurv.html

Capt Ev Gost is one of our groups premier experts in disability and survivor benefits.  Please see the post below from Ev regarding some very helpful info, especially for any survivors of Delta Pilots.

Hi Mark,

I was contacted recently by the daughter of a Delta pilot who deceased in 2016. Her mother had been unaware of the monthly income survivor benefit from the D&S Plan. When the daughter contacted Delta in 2020, the Employee Service Center (ESC) initially responded that there was not an entitlement for the survivor benefit. Eventually, we were able to secure her benefit and retroactive payments.

 

This experience reveals the fact that some Delta pilots and their survivors may not be aware of the monthly income survivor benefit payable from the D&S Plan. In most cases, this is a significant benefit for eligible surviving spouses. A brief summary of eligibility and the benefit is as follows:

 

DATE OF RETIREMENT

• The pilot must have retired from Delta prior to January 1, 2008. 

ELIGIBLE SURVIVING SPOUSE

• The spouse and the pilot must have been married prior to the date of the pilot's retiring or disabling, whichever came first. The D&S Plan actually states that the marriage had to occur 12 consecutive months prior to the Event Date unless the pilot was in good health at some time between the date of marriage and the Event Date.
• The spouse must have remained married to the pilot continuously until the date of the pilot's death.

AMOUNT OF MONTHLY BENEFIT

• 30% of the pilot's monthly final average earnings with adjustments
• adjusted for Delta service of less than 25 years
• adjusted for early retirement before age 60
• credit of up to 5 years of Delta service or early retirement age was provided for pilots who retired under the 1996 Special Retirement Program.
• eligible survivors of disabled pilots receive 50% of the Long Term Disability benefit prior to reduction for Delta retirement benefits.

Pilots can request an estimate of the monthly income survivor benefit by contacting the:

Employee Service Center (ESC) at 1-800-MY DELTA.

Alternatively, an estimate can be calculated on the SURVIVOR BENEFIT WORKSHEET posted on the DDPSA website at:    

www.ddpsa.org  

Thanks for continuing to be a major source of information for the retired Delta pilot community. 

Ev   egost@hotmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Full post disclaimer in left column. PCN Home Page is located at: http://pcn.homestead.com/home01.html