If Social Security finds that you have
gotten too much money in your disability or SSI check, they will send you a Notice of
Overpayment. This may happen because you did not report a change to Social Security
(SSA). For example, you may not have told SSA that you started working, or that your child
moved out of your house, or that your child began getting child support. In some cases,
you may have reported the change, but SSA delayed in decreasing your monthly check.
The Notice of Overpayment will tell
you how much you were overpaid. It will tell you to send the money back in 30 days. Don't
panic! The first thing to do is read the Notice carefully. Is the information on it
correct? Are the amounts and dates correct? Try to figure out if you were really overpaid
the amount SSA says.
After you have figured out what the
Notice says, there are several different ways to deal with it. Here are your choices:
Ask for Reconsideration.
This means you want SSA to look at your case again, either by looking at your file or by
meeting with you in a conference. Ask for a reconsideration if you think the amount of the
overpayment is wrong or the reason SSA gives for the overpayment is wrong.
Ask for a Waiver. If you agree
that you were overpaid, you can still ask SSA to waive it so that you don't have to pay it
back. Ask for a waiver if you think that the overpayment was not your fault and you can't
afford to pay the money back.
Ask for a Payment Arrangement. Do
this if you think that the overpayment was your fault or you can afford to pay it back.
You can tell SSA that you want to pay the money back a little at a time.
Whatever you decide to do, act promptly! Do not just put the
notice aside. If you ignore the notice, SSA will start taking money out
of your future checks. Here is some more detailed information about each
of the choices listed above.
If you do not think you were overpaid, or
if the amount is not right, ask for a reconsideration of the overpayment. Here are the
rules:
- Ask for reconsideration in writing at your local Social Security
office.
- File your request within 60 days of getting the Notice of Overpayment.
- Ask for one of the following types of review
- Case Review. An SSA worker
will review the papers in your file and make a new decision based on this file review.
- Informal Conference. You meet with
the person who will decide your case to go over your file, to give new information, and to
tell your side of the story.
- Formal Conference. You can bring
witnesses to help present your case to the SSA worker.
Decide which type of review you want,
depending on what additional information SSA needs to have. In most cases, you will
probably want at least an informal conference, to present your story to the worker who
will be reviewing you case.
After reconsideration, if SSA still says
that you were overpaid, you can appeal that decision. See Step Three below for the
next steps to take. However, SSA can start to get the overpayment back after the
reconsideration, even if you appeal. If you win the appeal, SSA will have to pay you back.
Sometimes an overpayment happens because
you did not report a change in your income or household to SSA. Maybe you did not know
that you were supposed to report the change. Or maybe you did tell SSA and they didn't
record it. If the overpayment was not your fault and you cannot afford to pay it
back, you can ask for a waiver. A waiver means that even though you were overpaid, SSA
will not ask you to give the money back.
Automatic Waivers for
Small Overpayments
SSA must automatically waive your
overpayment if:
- the amount is less than $500
- you did not cause the overpayment by
making a false statement to SSA, and
- you request waiver
If all 3 of these apply to you and
your waiver is denied, remind the SSA worker that you qualify for an automatic waiver.
If the waiver is still denied, contact
Pine
Tree Legal right away.
Steps in Applying for a
Waiver of Overpayment
Step One.
Get a form called Overpayment
Recovery Questionnaire from your local Social Security office. This form asks you
questions about whether you reported the change and whether you knew you should report the
change. It will also ask questions about your income. Remember, you must show both that
the overpayment was not your fault and that you do not have enough money to pay back the
overpayment.
Some of the reasons that may show
that the overpayment was not your fault are:
- You have trouble
reading. You did
not know what you had to report to SSA.
- You have trouble remembering or
understanding directions.
- You believed you reported every change
that might have caused an overpayment.
- You were not told the reporting
requirement.
- You applied for SSI a long time ago and
do not remember the reporting rules.
Next, if you do not get SSI, list
all your income and expenses on the part of the form that asks for financial information. If
you are getting SSI, you do not need to give financial information. The rules assume
that you cannot afford to repay. Just write on that section: "I am currently
receiving SSI. It would be a financial hardship for me to pay the money back."
If you need help filling out the form, ask
a worker at SSA to help you.
Step Two.
If SSA does not give you a waiver, you can
ask for reconsideration. This means you want SSA to look at your waiver request
again. Here are the rules:
- Ask for a reconsideration of your waiver in
writing at your local Social Security office.
- File the request within 60 days of
being turned down for a waiver.
- You have the three choices for the type
of review you want: case review, informal conference, or formal conference.
(See above.)
Step Three.
If your reconsideration is turned down, you can ask for an
Administrative Hearing. Ask for the hearing in writing within
60 days after your reconsideration was turned down. This hearing
is held by an an Administrative Law Judge. At the hearing, you will have
a chance to tell the judge your side of the story. You can have an attorney,
paralegal or other representative to help you at the hearing. Contact the
Volunteer Lawyer's Project,
Pine
Tree Legal or a private lawyer or paralegal as soon as you appeal.
Step Four.
If you lose your hearing, you can ask to
have your case reviewed by the Appeals Council. Tell the local SSA office that you
want to appeal the Administrative Law Judge's decision. The Appeals Council is outside
Washington, D.C. You do not have to go the Appeals Council to have your case reviewed.
They will look over the records in your case to see if the judge at your hearing made a
mistake.
Step Five.
If you lose at the Appeals Council level,
you can take your case to court. You will need a lawyer to do this.
Making a
Payment Arrangement
If you have lost all of your appeals or
have decided not to appeal any further, you must pay the money back. Tell SSA that you
want to repay it in small amounts each month that you can afford. Otherwise, SSA may
automatically take your whole Social Security disability check or 10% of your SSI check.
Usually you will have to pay back at least $10.00 a month. SSA tries to get the money back
within 3 years. However, they cannot take more than 10% of your SSI check, even if it
takes more than 3 years.
Summary
Don't despair if you get a notice of
overpayment from Social Security. Read the notice carefully and ask your SSA worker to
help you. Always write down the name of anyone you talk to at SSA and the date of the
conversation. You can also call
Pine Tree Legal
Assistance if you have questions.
