EEOICPA Fee Cap Deb Jerison, May 18, 2015 A couple months ago I got a troubling call from a person who had recently lost a parent who had worked at a Department of Energy facility. The caller was still grieving for his loss and wanted an Authorized Representative to take over the claim. The caller had spoken with an advocate who assured him that no decent Authorized Representative would take the claim for less than 30%. I was able to tell the caller this was untrue and provide a list of qualified, competent people doing Authorized Representative work. It was doubly troubling that the claim appeared to be a straight forward SEC claim. I know many advocates do not feel that it is ethical to take any percentage for an SEC claim that has no complicating issues to address. This is not the first time I have had abuse like this reported. There are many reasons claimants need help pursuing an EEOICPA claim. The program is difficult to understand and navigate. Many claimants are elderly, ill, or grieving for the loss of a loved one. Working on a claim for a lost loved one brings back the pain of the loss every time a claimant deals with the claim and can make doing even a simple claim too painful to pursue alone. When Congress established EEOICPA they put into the law the limits than another party, called an Authorized Representative (AR) are allowed to charge. DOL explains this to claimants in this way, “Under the regulations implementing 42 U.S.C. § 7385g, an AR is permitted to charge an appropriate fee for services related to a claim before DEEOIC. Maximum fee limitations apply even if the claimant and AR have agreed to other amounts in a contract or otherwise. The maximum allowable percentage of a payment of lump-sum compensation that can be collected as a fee is as follows: (1) two percent (2%) for the filing of an initial claim with DEEOIC, provided that the representative was retained prior to the filing of the initial claim; plus (2) ten percent (10%) of the difference between the lump-sum payment made to the claimant and the amount proposed in the recommended decision with respect to objections to a recommended decision.” This means that through the entire claims process until a Final Decision is issued an Authorized Representative may only charge up to 12%. Total. However, as I understand it, if an Authorized Representative takes a claim to federal court for a claimant then the AR can charge whatever the two parties decide on. The AR is also allowed to charge the claimant for out of pocket costs. This would be things like a doctor’s review of medical records, postage and reasonable copying fees. This does not cover the AR’s time working on the claim. That is covered only with the 2-10-12%. The reason Congress established these caps in payment was to keep unscrupulous people from preying on vulnerable people who had already been damaged by the government’s behavior. This was supposed to be a way to keep the claimants from being victimized a second time. Winning an EEOICPA claim HAS turned out to be a whole lot harder than Congress anticipated. But the fee caps established by Congress remain and are being honored by all legitimate advocates. Congress is the only body that can change the fee caps and I, for one, don’t see that happening. There have been many times when I, and I assume many advocates, have worked on a claim for a lot less than minimum wage. I’ve spent 6-8 years working on a couple claims before they were paid. But there have been other claims I have worked on where things went easily and the claimant was paid in less than a year. Every claim is different. But the fee schedule is the same: 2%-10%-12%. EECAP and ANWAG are working together to try to find out if what I was told is true. Perhaps the claimant I spoke with misunderstood the Authorized Representative who said that no effective Authorized Representative charges less than 30%. To help find the truth on this matter ANWAG/EECAP have launched a new survey aimed at Authorized Representatives to gather information on the services they provide and the costs of those services. If you are an Authorized Representative for EEOICPA claimants we would really appreciate your input. All responses are anonymous. If you are a claimant who has talked to an Authorized Representative who charges more than the legal 2%-10%-12% amount we would also like to hear from you. Our goal is to get to the truth of this matter and we appreciate help from anyone with information on this subject. Thanks so much!http://eecap.org/EECAP_blog.htm#.VVopOQqEtz8.facebook