Information for FERS Annuitants

Payments

Agency Responsible for Payments
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) authorizes your basic retirement benefit and the Treasury Department prepares and mails the checks (or transfers the payment to your bank).

Payment and Accrual of Annuity
All annuities are payable in monthly installments on the first business day of each month. Your payment covers annuity due for the month before the month in which the payment is made. For example, your check dated June 1, pays annuity for the month of May.

If you don't get your check on the first business day, it could be because:

• It's delayed in the mail.
• You moved and we didn't receive your new address in time for us to correct the address for the next check.
• Your annuity was suspended for failure to reply to official correspondence, or
• We have received notification of your receipt of benefits from the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

Late Payments
The best way to avoid late payments is to enroll in direct deposit. However, if your payment is late, wait 5 workdays because the mail may have been delayed. Then, if you still have not received your check, write to:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
ATTN: Check Loss
P.O. Box 7815
Washington, DC 20044-7815

If you prefer, you can call OPM at 1-888-767-6738. Customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must use 202-606-0500.

Tell us which check you did not receive. We will also need to know:

• Your claim number (CSA number). You can find this number on your Annuity Statement or on any other statements we sent you regarding your benefits. Always be sure to include the letters "CSA" before the claim number.
• Date you expected to receive the check that was lost. (This is very important to avoid any misunderstanding about the check for which you are claiming non-receipt.)
• If you notify us in writing, be sure to sign your name at the end of your letter.
• If your monthly payment is being deposited directly into a bank, you must also get an official from the bank to sign your letter.

Beginning Date of Retirement Payments
In most cases, your annuity began the first of the month after the month you separated for retirement. However, under certain conditions, your annuity could have begun on a different date, as shown below:

• If you retired because of disability - Your annuity began the day after you separated or the day after your last day of pay, whichever was earlier.
  
  
• If you retired involuntarily under the discontinued service provisions, or if you retired as a military reserve technician at age 50 with 20 years of technician service because of your failure to meet the conditions required for continued employment - Your annuity began the day after you separated for retirement.
  
  
• If you postponed receiving your Minimum Retirement Age (MRA)+10 benefit - Your annuity began on the first of the month you designated or the first day of the month of your 62nd birthday, whichever was earlier.
  
  
• If you retired on a deferred annuity - Your annuity began the first of the month following your 62nd birthday (unless you had at least 10 years of service and chose to receive it before you were 62).

Time Limit for Cashing Annuity Checks
Government checks cannot be cashed more than 12 months after the date on which the check was issued. If you have a check that is no longer negotiable, return it to:

U. S. Office of Personnel Management
Funds Management
P.O. Box 1725
Washington, DC 20044-1725.

If you are entitled to a replacement check and have not already received one, we will send you a replacement check.

Payment/Mailing Address
It's important that you tell us when your mailing address changes, so you can receive important information we periodically send out. Even if your monthly annuity payment goes to a bank, we always send information about your annuity to your mailing address.

• Changing Mailing Address
  Be sure to keep the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) advised of any change in your mailing address. If you move or change your mailing address, you can either telephone us or write us to report your new address. If you want to change your address by telephone, call 1-888-767-6738. Customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must use 202-606-0500. This method of changing your address is usually quicker. If you prefer to write to us, you should report your new address to:
  
  U.S. Office of Personnel Management
  ATTN: Change of Address
  P.O. Box 45
  Boyers, PA 16017-0045
  
  by one of the following methods:
  • Use the change-of-address form we sent to you, or
  • Use the form on the back of the envelopes in which the Treasury Department mails your monthly annuity checks, or
  • Use a postcard or letter. On it, print the following information:
    • Your name
    • Your claim number
    • Your old address (Be sure to include the ZIP Code and mark this "old address")
    • Your new address (Be sure to include the ZIP Code and mark this "new address")
  
  
  Whether you use a form, card, or letter, be sure to sign it.
  
  Make sure we know your new address as soon as possible; otherwise, your next check could be late or may not be received because we mailed it to your old address. You could also fail to receive important information from us.
  
  While waiting for your check mailing address to be changed, you should ask your postmaster to forward your mail or arrange to get the check personally at your old address, because we probably won't be able to change your check mailing address in time for the next check to arrive at your new address. If your payments are deposited directly into your bank account, you still must notify the Office of Personnel Management if your correspondence address changes.

Direct Deposit of Annuity Check to Your Bank Account
Public law 104-134 requires that most Federal payments be paid by Direct Deposit through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) into a savings or checking account at a financial institution. However, if receiving your payment electronically would cause you a financial hardship, or a hardship because you have a disability, or because of a geographic, language or literacy barrier, you may invoke your legal right to a waiver of the Direct Deposit requirement, and continue to receive your payment by check.

Direct deposit is a win-win situation all around. You avoid the bother of traveling to a bank or other financial institution to cash or deposit your check. You may earn a few days extra interest each month, and save travel costs and time. Both you and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are saved the worry that the check will be lost in the mail. It also assures that payments are deposited and available for your use, even when you are away from home.

When you elect direct deposit, you will continue to receive other information at your mailing address.

Changing Method of Payment to Direct Deposit
If your payments currently come to your mailing address and you now want to have your Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) annuity payments deposited directly into your bank account, you can either call 1-888-767-6738 (customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must use 202-606-0500), or if you prefer, you can get form SF 1199A at your financial institution and fax it to us at 202-606-0144 or mail it to us at:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Retirement Operations Center
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045

If you call the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), you will need your account number at the financial institution and the institution's routing number.

Banks outside the United States do not use SF 1199A. To have your check sent to a bank in a foreign country, you should write to:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
ATTN: Change-of-Address
P.O. Box 45
Boyers, PA 16017-0045.

Changing Financial Institution Where Direct Deposits are Sent
To change banks you can either call OPM at 1-888-767-6738 (customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must use 202-606-0500) or complete a new SF 1199A , Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form, with your new bank and forward the new form to OPM at the address above. To avoid possible non-receipt of an annuity payment, we suggest that you do not close out your old account until you begin receiving annuity payments at your new bank account.

If You Become Ill and Cannot Sign Your Checks
If you are mentally competent but physically unable to write your name legibly, you, a family member, or other person acting in your behalf, should ask your bank what to do so you can cash or deposit your check. Direct Deposit is usually the best solution. OPM will accept an "X" as your signature if two people sign beside the "X" to witness that you made the "X".

If You Become Mentally Incompetent
If you become unable to take care of your own financial affairs, a family member or other individual should notify:

U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Federal Employees' Retirement System
Retirement Operations Center
Boyers, PA 16017-0001

They should give your full name and claim number (CSA number). We will send instructions to your mailing address, or to the person who wrote in your behalf. These instructions explain how to have your annuity paid to a person who will act as your representative and use the money for your benefit. If a court has appointed a guardian or conservator to be your representative, the individual should return the checks made out to you to the Treasury Department with an explanation of why they are being returned, as indicated above. In addition, they should write to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), providing a copy of the court order and asking to be made the payee. This person should be sure to state the address to which the checks are to be mailed. OPM will take the steps necessary to pay your annuity to your guardian or conservator. However, any checks received that do not have the proper payee's name should be returned to the Treasury Department. We will arrange to have new checks made out to the person the court appointed.

Payment to Individual With Power of Attorney
Annuity checks made out to you cannot be cashed by an individual using a general power of attorney. However, remember that you can use SF 1199A, Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form, to have your payments deposited in your bank account. A specific power of attorney - SF 232, Power of Attorney by Individual for the Collection of a Specified Check Drawn on the United States Treasury - can be used but a separate form must be completed for each check cashed. If you want to use a foreign bank, you must complete SF 233, - Power of Attorney by Individual to a Bank for Collection of Checks Drawn on the United States Treasury. (SF 232 and SF 233 may be available at your bank.)

Uncashed Checks Upon Death of Retiree
To avoid any violation of law, return any checks uncashed at the time of a retiree's death to:

Department of the Treasury
Financial Management Service
P.O. Box 7224
San Francisco, CA 94120-7224

along with an explanation that the retiree died and the date of death. If your annuity payments are being deposited directly into your bank account, your survivors should immediately notify the bank of your death. Your survivors should write or telephone the Office of Personnel Management at 1-888-767-6738 (customers within local calling distance to Washington, DC must use 202-606-0500) asking for an application for death benefits.

RI 90-8
Revised January 2000
Previous edition is not usable