Social Security Overpayments Explained
WHAT ARE SOCIAL SECURITY OVERPAYMENTS?
An overpayment is when you receive more money for a month than the amount you should have been paid. The amount of your overpayment is the difference between the amount you received and the amount due.
WHAT CAN CAUSE AN OVERPAYMENT?
– Your income is more than you estimated.
– Your living situation changes.
– Your marital status changes.
– You have more resources than the allowable limit.
– You are no longer disabled and continue to receive benefits.
– You do not report a change to us (on time or at all) as required.
– We incorrectly figure your benefits because of incorrect or incomplete information.
WHAT WILL WE DO IF THERE IS AN OVERPAYMENT?
We will send you a notice explaining the overpayment and asking for a full refund within 30 days. If you are currently getting checks and do not make a full refund, the notice will:
– propose to withhold the overpayment at the rate of the lesser of 10 percent of your total monthly income;
– state the month the proposed withholding will start;
– fully explain your appeal rights;
– explain how you can ask us to have the overpayment reviewed and waived, so you may not have to pay it back; and
– explain how you can appeal our decision.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU GET AN OVERPAYMENT NOTICE?
If you believe you were not overpaid, you may request a reconsideration.
If you ask for an appeal within 10 days of the date on the notice, any payment we are currently making will continue until we make a decision.
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If you believe that you may have been overpaid, but feel that it was not your fault:
– ask for a waiver of the overpayment; and
– ask for and complete form SSA-632 (request for waiver).
You can ask for a waiver at any time.
If we grant you a waiver, you will not have to repay all or part of the overpayment. Generally, for us to grant you a waiver, you must show that:
– It was not your fault that you were overpaid; and
– You cannot pay back the overpayment because you need the money to meet your ordinary living expenses. You may have to submit bills to show that your monthly expenses use up all of your income and that it would be a hardship for you to repay.
IF YOU ARE NOT SURE WHAT CAUSED THE OVERPAYMENT, YOU MAY ASK FOR A RECONSIDERATION,OR A WAIVER, OR BOTH.
You may ask to see your file to see the information we used in figuring the overpayment. You may have us explain the reason for the overpayment while you are examining your file.
WHAT IF THERE WAS AN OVERPAYMENT AND WE DO NOT GRANT YOUR REQUEST FOR A WAIVER?
You can request a reconsideration of Social Security’s denial of your request for waiver. If we continue to deny your waiver request, you will have to pay back the overpayment or have it withheld from your monthly benefits.
You can ask us to withhold less than the proposed amount each month, or you can arrange to make monthly payments if you no longer receive supplemental security income (SSI) benefits.
If you no longer receive SSI, we may withhold your overpayment from a Federal Income Tax refund and/or from any future Social Security benefits you may receive. If you become eligible for SSI in the future, we will withhold your overpayment from future SSI payments.