PBGC to start paying Nortel pensions in January 2010

Some people have received letters from the PBGC stating that they will start receiving their pension checks from the PBGC agency starting in January 2010. The letters indicate that the payments will be coming from State Street Corporation (SSC), PBGC's paying agent, instead of Northern Trust.

The PBGC is obviously working with Nortel and Mercer to obtain the relevant information on all people currently receiving defined pension benefits. If you are a recipient of a monthly defined benefit pension payment from Nortel,your pension checks should continue to come from Northern Trust until Jan 2010, at which time the PBGC agency will start issuing them. You should check with the PBGC to determine if there are any impacts on the payments since they have specific rules and limits of the monthly amounts paid.

Also if you think that you are covered by the PBGC and have not yet received a letter, I suggest calling the PBGC to confirm your eligibility.