There are a number of reasons you may end up being overpaid Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. Reasons can include changes in your circumstances, your failure to provide accurate or updated information to the Social Security Administration (SSA), or simply errors made by the SSA in calculating or processing benefits.
Regardless of why overpayment occurs, the SSA will come back to you after discovering the errors and demand repayment of overages. If this occurs, you’ll need to know what to do and what you should expect from the SSA moving forward.
How do you Know there’s been an Overpayment?
The SSA periodically audits all payment schedules and amounts. During this process, they may discover errors, including underpayments and overpayments. If an overpayment has occurred, it may be substantial, as it may have gone on for some time before being discovered.
If overpayments were issued to you, the SSA will send out a notice to you and your representative, if applicable. The notice you receive will include several key pieces of information: (1) the overpayment amount, including grand and subtotals; (2) an explanation of the reason(s) for overpayment; (3) options for repaying the overpaid funds; (4) your rights under SSA guidelines, including your options requesting a waiver and filing an appeal on the demand for repayment.
What are the Repayment Options?
The default repayment method is for the SSA to withhold the entire amount of your monthly benefits until the debt has been repaid. Withholdings will commence 30 days after the notice of overpayment was mailed to you.
While this method of repaying SSD may work quite well for some beneficiaries, if the amount of overpayment was significant, repayment can take some time and can present a major financial hardship for you as a result. If this is the case for you, you can contact the SSA to request they withhold less than the full monthly benefit amount in order to make your financial situation more manageable. However, if you do nothing and don’t contact the SSA directly, the default repayment schedule will apply and your monthly benefits will be withheld until the repayment has been satisfied in full.
The request for a different repayment schedule must be approved by the SSA before it will be effective. In the mean time, your full monthly benefits may be withheld. This is why it’s crucial you don’t delay contacting the SSA to discuss repayment and why you may wish to seek legal help, especially if you intend to appeal the demand for repayment or request a waiver.
What are Your Appeal and Waiver Rights?
If you disagree with the overpayment amount as recorded in the notice for repayment you receive from the SSA, or you believe you haven’t been overpaid, then you can file an appeal. The appeal must be submitted in writing and must explain why you believe the SSA’s calculations and other findings (detailed in the explanation for overpayment within the notice you received) are wrong.
If you believe the overpayment information in the notice you receive from the SSA to be correct, but cannot afford to repay it or believe it would be unfair for the SSA to demand you do so, then you can file for a waiver of the debt. Unlike an appeal, a waiver does not request the SSA to review their findings. It instead requests the SSA reconsider the demand for repayment entirely.
A waiver request is usually based on one of two things: (1) the repayment of benefits would cause a severe financial hardship for you; or (2) the overpayment was not your fault and you should therefore not be held responsible for the debt that resulted from it.
The first argument can be more difficult to win, but it is possible, especially when the overpayments went on for some time and you accumulated a large debt because of it. The second argument is usually chosen when the overpayment was due to SSA calculation or processing errors and not because you failed to update your employment or other financial information, or your living arrangements or other circumstance-specific details with the SSA.
If you file a written appeal or waiver, the SSA will take none of your benefit payments while the argument is being considered. Only after a determination is made may the repayment plan go into effect – that is, if you’re still held accountable for the debt under the SSA’s decision.
Whether you decide to file an appeal or request a waiver of financial obligation, seeking the help of a Social Security lawyer is your best interest. He or she can help you structure your argument and effectively document that argument in writing in order to get the best possible outcome for you.
