Monday, March 28, 2011

Canadian PM Harper allows abuse of disabled

The following was sent to me by Dianne Urquhart

Jul 06, 2009 05:18 PM EDT
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak8NEqo2po8
 
OR
 
YouTube - Prime Minister Harper Allows Powerful to Abuse Disabled
 
 
 
Prime Minister Harper Allows Powerful to Abuse Disabled
Nortel disabled employees asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to correct an abuse by their employer who provided bogus disability insurance and wrongfully removed $75 million from their health and welfare trust. PM Harper stonewalled them for 18 months, turning down two disability bills using excuses supplied to his government by the insolvency lawyers, bankers and junk bond owners who took the disability insurance of the Nortel disabled. Bankers and bond owners insure their losses with credit default swaps and yet this government assists them to make a higher return by taking the insurance money of the disabled. This money does not rightfully belong to the creditors. Since disabled persons are less than 0.9% of the workforce and the cost of disability insurance is less than 1.5% of payroll, the impact of the bills on cost of credit is miniscule. The taxpayer now foots the bill for the PM's decision and the disabled live in poverty.

The Canadian disabled thank the Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff for tabling the disability bills and NDP Leader Jack Layton, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Green Leader Elizabeth May for supporting the bills. For more information, go to www.protectourtomorrow.com.

Sent By:

Diane A. Urquhart
Independent Financial Analyst
Mississauga, Ontario
Tel:  (905) 822-7618
Cell: (416) 505-4832
urquhart@rogers.com
 

 

 

 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Nortel US Claims- NUSRPC email

The NUSRPC has sent out an email regarding the offers to purchase claims that some people have received. They are cautioning everyone to examine the fine print closely. There is the possibility of a clawback in many of these offers if the payout is less than expected, so be careful what you agree to.

Here is the email content:

The NUSRPC is a volunteer organization. Nothing in this e-mail is intended to be, nor should be construed to be, legal or financial advice.

Status Update

Many of us have received a letter offering to purchase our claims and this letter has prompted a number of questions to the NUSRPC. The NUSRPC has attempted to contact one firm but has not received a response to our inquiries.

However there are some general comments we can make to our members:

-There are legitimate companies who operate in this field. Their business is to provide cash for paper assets that ordinarily are illiquid, such as claims in a court case which is still in process.

-These companies may decide to offer to purchase your claim now at some percentage of its face value hoping that the claim will be resolved by the court later for a higher percentage, thus yielding a profit for themselves.

-Should you be interested in accepting such an offer, the NUSRPC strongly advises you to seek legal advice regarding the terms and conditions outlined on the document you will be asked to sign. Under certain circumstances you may be asked to pay back some or all of the money you have been paid, perhaps with an added penalty. It is important that you clearly understand those circumstances and be prepared for the possibility that you may be asked for repayment.

-We have asked Akin Gump, the court appointed attorney for the unsecured creditors for an opinion on how long it may take before the Nortel bankruptcy case is concluded. In their opinion it would not be unusual for the case to last another 12-18 months.

-If any member has specific knowledge, experience or advice related to doing business with one of these companies and would like to share it with others you may wish to join the Yahoo group and post your input at:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Nortel_Pension

The NUSRPC will continue to provide you with updates as developments occur regarding our benefits or affecting the claims we have already filed.

NUSRPC

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Persistence

Liquidity Solutions called me again to ask if I was interested in selling my claim against Nortel US to them. They were offering 44cents on the dollar for the value of my claim. As I indicated in my last post, another person published on the Yahoo Nortel Pension group that he has actually sold his claim to a different company for more than 55 cents on the dollar. However he pointed out that most of these companies are interested in claims that include severance and they also want to take over your right to sue Nortel in any class action suit later. Perhaps they know something that we don't and the claims will actually be worth a lot more than they are offering.

I have also seen postings where people don't think that there will be any payback to us at all, so it is hard to know what to do exactly. I think that the people offering to buy claims have done this in the past and they have the resources to determine what the estimated payout will be. They are taking a risk however, but they must think it is worthwhile. So I am not planning to sell my claim to them. I may regret that if the payout is less or non existent.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

US Claims Purchase by outside company

A week or so ago I posted a message about an offer to purchase my claim against Nortel US.
Following that post there has been a lot of discussion on the Yahoo Nortel
Pension group regarding the purchase of claims.

The following message was posted by a member who followed up on the idea and actually sold his claim to a company who is in the business of buying up claims and then making money when the assets are finally settled. As you can see from the message it is a bit more complicated than at first glance.

This is the message:



About two weeks ago I read a post to the group regarding an offer to purchase
their claim in the Nortel bankruptcy. Intrigued, I tracked down the company
mentioned and solicited my own bid at a rate of 40 cents on the dollar.

Thank goodness I live by the old axiom "never accept the first offer". I did
some research and came up with the names of four other companies that are
snapping-up claims........and proceeded to contact each of them. The LOWEST
rate I was offered was 55 cents on the dollar. Ultimately I sold mine for even
better than that. Didn't even have to wait for a check........they sent an
electronic fund transfer on the same day I returned the form.

Any of you receiving a bid absolutely MUST read the fine print in the contract.
In addition to withholding 35-40% for taxes (court mandated for severance
claims), several offers came with caveats that could lead you to serious
exposure to legal fees and other forms of financial jeopardy.

Seller beware!

A small footnote that will be frustrating news to some. All 5 companies I dealt
with were only interested in purchasing claims for which a severance contract
was included and an amount was "scheduled" on the claim form. That doesn't
necessarily mean people laid off without a severance agreement will not receive
compensation eventually. But it does mean you probably can't sell your claim.