One of the biggest problems I see when new clients hire me is that they never bothered to review the provider contracts they signed years ago. It’s human nature — you’re excited to get the plan up and running, the provider drops a thick contract in front of you, and you assume it’s boilerplate. Fast forward a few years, and suddenly you’re staring down surrender charges or termination fees you never saw coming.
I’ve seen it happen more than once. A plan sponsor comes to me ready to fire their bundled provider after years of lousy service, only to discover a 7% surrender charge because they broke a seven-year contract. That’s not just a nasty surprise — that’s a financial gut punch that could have been avoided.
The fix isn’t complicated. Before you sign anything, have counsel review the agreement. Spending a few hundred bucks on legal fees today is nothing compared to the thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) you’ll pay later if you get hit with surrender charges. The math is simple: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
So here’s the lesson: don’t let your plan’s future be dictated by fine print you never bothered to read. Contracts are written to protect the provider, not you. Make sure someone who knows what to look for reads it first. It’s the cheapest insurance you’ll ever buy.
