Keep What You Sent Your Compliance Provider
Whether a problem started with the provider or the data is often the deciding question in a claim. A dated copy of what you sent answers it.
What to know.
Keep the files, spreadsheets or portal entries you gave the provider, with the dates. If you report hires, terminations and qualifying events by email, keep the emails. If you use a portal, keep the confirmation.
Report changes as they happen rather than in a batch. Late data is the most common reason a claim is denied.
Where to look next.
Send Data on Time
See the habit that keeps the protection intact.
Employer Data Errors
See what the protection leaves out.
Benefits-Payroll Health Check
What to compare each week and month.
Making your own file the one that settles the question.
If a dispute ever arises about whether an error began with the provider or with the data, the party with the clearer record usually has the stronger position. That makes your own copy of what you sent the most useful thing to keep, because it does not depend on the provider’s systems or their willingness to produce records.
Make the practice routine. Save what you send in one place, name files consistently with dates and keep portal confirmations along with the data. A quarterly spot check, comparing a few sent items to what the provider has on file, finds problems early. Retention and notice requirements depend on your agreement and the law, so confirm them with your counsel.
Common questions on this topic.
Four questions to settle before you rely on it.
Should we send data in batches or as it happens?
As it happens. Delay is the most common cause of a denied claim.
Do emails count as records?
Yes. Keep them with their dates.
What if the provider asks for the data again?
Send it and note the date. Keep both versions.
Can CFH check our data process?
Yes. We can walk through how data moves from payroll to the provider.
How long should we keep what we sent?
Ask your counsel and check your agreement, since retention depends on the service and the rules that apply. Keeping records through the plan year and beyond is a common starting point.
What if we send data through a payroll feed?
Keep a record that the feed ran and what it contained, and compare the provider’s lists to payroll periodically. A feed can fail silently, so do not assume it worked.
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General information about compliance service protections, not legal or tax advice. Plan-specific questions belong with your counsel, and we will bring them in.
Related guides.
What Triggers a Hold-Harmless Claim
The overview this page belongs to.
Compliance Services With Hold-Harmless Protection
What the protection is, what it covers and what to ask.
How a Service Error Leads to a Claim
The next question on the same topic.
Where the Rules Come From.
The laws and rules named on this page link to the statute or regulation they come from. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and rules change, so check the current text.
COBRA Excise Tax (26 U.S.C. 4980B)
The tax on failures to meet COBRA continuation coverage requirements.
ERISA Civil Enforcement (29 U.S.C. 1132)
Includes the daily amounts a court may assess for failing to provide required notices.
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