Premiums

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 79-5 March 28, 1979 RE FERENCE: [*1] 4007(a). Payment of Premiums. Due Dates29 C FR 2602 Payment of Premiums OP INION: This is in response to your letter t o Matthew M . Lind, Executive Director of the Pension Benefit GuarantyCorporat ion (the "PBG C"), concerning the li ability of the Pension Plan of * * * (the "Plan") for payment of insu ranceprem iums to the PBGC, under Section 4007(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. You spec ifical ly asked whether the Plan must pay premiums for certain retirees whose Plan benefits are to beprovided pursu ant to an insurance contract. Under the PBGC's Premium Payment Regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 2602.1 et seq. (1977 ), a plan is not liable for premium payments for any "for mer employee or retiree to whom an insurancecompany has made an irrevocable commitment to pay the benefits to which the individual is entitled under the plan." As I unde rstand the facts, the Trustee of the Plan entered into a contract (the "Contract") with the * * * LifeInsura nce Co mpany * * * to purchase annuit ies for certain named retirees entitled to benefits under the Plan.Sub sequently, * * * Life and * * *, the employer, agreed that each month * * * Life would transfer to * * * an amountequ al [*2] to all annuities payable for that month, and that * * * would pay each annuitant his or her m onthly benefit.The annuita nts are unaware of the fact that their benefits ar e funded through the Contract, and cert ificates describing theannu ities purchased have not been issued to the annuitants. We view t he aforementioned exclusi on from participant status of certain former employees and retirees as beingbased on a novati on concept, wherein an insu rer takes the place o f a pension plan with the consent of the beneficiaries.Under the f acts of this case, we think that such c onsent has not been obtained, and that, therefore, * * * L