Railroad Retirement Board
Railroad Retirement Board Customer
Service Plan Update
January 2012
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board’s Customer Service
Plan promotes the principles and objectives of customer-driven quality service agency-wide.
The RRB’s plan lays out the standards and expresses the time frames in terms of
when the agency is required to make its decision to pay or deny an application
for benefits. The plan states specifically the level of service that customers
can expect, and an important part of the plan is a pledge to keep beneficiaries
informed of how well the RRB is meeting the plan’s standards. The plan is
reviewed and updated periodically as the agency gains more experience with it,
compares its service with the best in business and considers feedback received
from its customers.
The
following questions and answers provide information about the RRB’s performance
in the key areas of retirement applications, survivor applications, disability
applications and payments, and railroad unemployment and sickness benefit
applications and claims during fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010 – September
30, 2011). Included are the customer service performance goals the RRB
set for fiscal year 2011 in its Annual Performance Plan. These goals are
revised annually based on such factors as projected workloads and available
resources. Also included is information on the RRB’s overall performance,
as measured by the timeliness index developed by the agency.
1. How
does the RRB measure overall timeliness for customer service?
The
RRB developed an index to measure the overall timeliness of its customer
service in four benefit areas: retirement applications; survivor
applications; disability applications and payments; and railroad unemployment
and sickness benefit applications and claims. This composite indicator,
based on a weighted average, allows for a more concise and meaningful
presentation of its customer service efforts in these benefit areas.
2. How
timely, overall, was the customer service provided by the RRB in fiscal year
2011, as measured by this timeliness index?
During
fiscal year 2011, the overall benefit timeliness index stood at 99.2
percent. This means that the RRB provided benefit services within the
time frames promised in the Customer Service Plan 99.2 percent of the
time. More detailed performance information for specific benefit areas is
presented in the questions and answers that follow.
3. What standards were used by the RRB in
fiscal year 2011 for processing applications for railroad retirement employee
or spouse annuities and how well did it meet those standards?
Under
the RRB’s standards, if you filed an application for a railroad retirement
employee or spouse annuity in advance, the RRB will make a decision to pay or
deny the application within 35 days of the beginning date of your
annuity. If you have not filed in advance, the RRB will make a decision
within 60 days of the date you filed your application.
Of
the cases processed during fiscal year 2011, the RRB made a decision within 35
days of their annuity beginning date on 96.20 percent of employee and 95.83
percent of spouse applicants who filed in advance. Taking these employee
and spouse cases together, 96.02 percent of this group met the agency’s
standard for fiscal year 2011. Average processing times for employee and
spouse applications were 15.7 and 11.3 days, respectively; the combined average
processing time for these cases was 13.6 days.
Also,
of the cases processed, the RRB made a decision within 60 days of their filing
dates on 98.8 percent of employee and 97.4 percent of spouse applicants who had
not filed in advance. Taken together, 97.9 percent of these cases met the
agency’s standard. In these cases, the average processing times for
employee and spouse applications were 21.5 and 19.2 days, respectively; the
combined average processing time was 20.1 days.
The
RRB’s goals in fiscal year 2011 were 92.75 and 96.80 percent timeliness,
respectively, for those filing in advance and those not filing in advance.
4. What
standards were used in the area of survivor benefits in fiscal year 2011?
Under
the standards, if you filed for a railroad retirement survivor annuity and you
were not already receiving benefits as a spouse, the RRB will make a decision
to pay, deny, or transfer your application to the Social Security
Administration within 60 days of the beginning date of your annuity or the date
the application is filed (whichever is later). If you are already
receiving a spouse annuity, the RRB will make a decision to pay, deny, or
transfer your application for a survivor annuity to the Social Security
Administration within 30 days of the first notice of the employee’s
death. If you filed for a lump-sum death benefit, the RRB will make a
decision to pay or deny your application within 60 days of the date the
application is filed.
Of
the cases considered during fiscal year 2011, the RRB made a decision within 60
days of the later of the annuity beginning date or the date the application was
filed in 96.3 percent of the applications for an initial survivor
annuity. In cases where the survivor was already receiving a spouse
annuity, a decision was made within 30 days of the first notice of the
employee’s death in 95.8 percent of the cases. In addition, a decision
was made within 60 days of the date the application was filed in 98.35 percent
of the applications for a lump-sum death benefit. The combined average
processing time for all initial survivor applications and spouse to survivor
conversions was 18.6 days. The average processing time for lump-sum death
benefit applications was 11 days.
The goals for fiscal year 2011 were
93.5 and 95.2 percent timeliness, respectively, for processing initial survivor
applications and spouse to survivor conversions. For processing
applications for lump-sum death benefits, the goal was 97.1 percent.
5. What standards were used by the RRB in fiscal year 2011 for
processing applications for disability annuities under the Railroad Retirement
Act?
Under the Customer Service Plan, if you
filed for a disability annuity, the RRB will make a decision to pay or deny a
benefit within 100 days of the date you filed your application. If it is
determined that you are entitled to disability benefits, you will receive your
first payment within 25 days of the date of the RRB’s decision, or the earliest
payment date, whichever is later.
Of the cases processed during fiscal
year 2011, the RRB made a decision within 100 days of the date an application
was filed on 67.5 percent of those filing for a disability annuity.
The average processing time was 92.3 days. Of those entitled to
disability benefits, 96 percent received their first payment within the
Customer Service Plan’s time frame. The average processing time was 9
days.
The agency’s goals were 70 percent and
94.5 percent timeliness, respectively, for disability decisions and disability
payments.
6. What were the standards for the handling of applications and
claims for railroad unemployment and sickness benefits and how well did the RRB
meet these standards?
Under the standards, if you filed an
application for unemployment or sickness benefits, the RRB will release a claim
form or a denial letter within 10 days of receiving your application. If
you filed a claim for subsequent biweekly unemployment or sickness benefits,
the RRB will certify a payment or release a denial letter within 10 days of the
date the RRB receives your claim form.
During fiscal year 2011, 99.75 percent
of unemployment benefit applications sampled for timeliness and 99.66 percent
of sickness benefit applications processed met the RRB’s standard.
Average processing times for unemployment and sickness benefit applications
were 0.5 and 2.2 days, respectively.
In
addition, 99.9 percent of subsequent claims processed for unemployment and
sickness benefits met the RRB’s standard for fiscal year 2011. The
average processing time for claims was 3.9 days.
The
agency’s goals for processing unemployment and sickness applications in fiscal
year 2011 were 99.5 percent timely for unemployment applications and 99.2
percent timely for sickness applications. The payment or decision goal
for subsequent claims was 99.8 percent timeliness.
7. How
did the RRB’s performance in meeting its standards in fiscal year 2011 compare
to its performance in fiscal year 2010?
Fiscal
year 2011 performance met or exceeded fiscal year 2010 performance in the areas
of employee initial applications (not filed in advance) and spouse initial applications
(whether filed in advance or not), initial survivor applications (whether or
not already receiving a benefit), lump-sum death benefits, sickness benefit
applications and claims, and unemployment claims.
Average
processing times in fiscal year 2011 equaled or improved fiscal year 2010
processing times in the areas of employee and spouse initial applications
(whether filed in advance or not), unemployment benefit claims, and sickness
benefit applications. Also, for fiscal year 2011, the agency met or
exceeded all of the customer service performance goals it had set for the year
in its Annual Performance Plan with the exception of disability applications.
8. Can
beneficiaries provide feedback to the RRB about the service they receive?
A
Customer Assessment Survey form allowing beneficiaries to evaluate the service
they received and suggest how the agency can improve its service is available
in every field office. Persons not satisfied with the service they
received may also contact the manager of the office with which they have been
dealing.
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
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