It’s not unusual to receive a notice that you’ve been overpaid by the Social Security Administration – and they want their money back. But what does it mean and what can you do about it?
What is an “overpayment” and when does it happen?
An overpayment happens when a recipient of social security disability benefits receives more money for a month than the amount he should have been paid. The amount of the overpayment is the difference between the amount he received and the amount due. This can occur whether you get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Overpayments most often happen when:
- Your income is more than you estimated;
- Your living situation changes;
- Your marital status changes;
- You have more resources, income or earnings than the allowable limit (this applies to SSI recipients only);
- You are no longer disabled but you are continuing to receive benefits;
- There was a miscalculation in determining the benefit amount;
- A duplicate check was issued
What can I do about it?
If you receive notice of an overpayment, it will state that you are required to pay it back or it will be withheld from future checks. This is true but there are important qualifications you should know.
- First, you have the right to appeal. If you believe that the overpayment amount is incorrect, or that you have not been overpaid, you can ask for reconsideration.
- Second, even if you agree you were overpaid and the amount is correct, if you cannot afford to repay it, you can request a “waiver”.
- The process for doing this is to fill out and file a Request for Waiver and Recovery Questionnaire. When you file a request for waiver you need to present any papers you have that can support your financial statements. This would include items such as current bank statements, utility bills, pay stubs, credit card payments, loan payments, etc. If you do not have these records immediately available, do not delay filing. You have up to thirty days from filing the request to supply them.
- You must appeal and/or request a waiver within the appeal periods stated in the overpayment letter! Although deadlines can be extended if you can show good cause for a late appeal, this is not a situation you want to be in.
Assuming you file within the time allotted, the recovery of the repayment will be delayed or suspended until a decision is made.
Will a lawyer help me?
You dread an overpayment notice and lawyers do too. Unfortunately, the Social Security law makes it difficult to impossible for an attorney to be paid for the considerable work it can take to assist you. Many attorneys will not accept overpayment cases. Swanson, Thomas, Coon & Newton’s policy is to help clients for whom we previously won benefits if they receive an overpayment notice, but we are not able to take overpayment cases for folks for whom we did not obtain benefits originally.
For more information: http://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.19/handbook-toc19.html