Social Security Disability Overpayments
Now more than ever, the Social Security Administration is sending out notices for apparent overpayments made to recipients of disability benefits. Our office has received countless phone calls about how to handle these situations and some of the stories are downright horrific.
Imagine receiving monthly benefits for 5 years. Assume you are receiving an amount of money that certainly helps with paying the bills, but by no means leaves you with expendable income. Then imagine getting a letter from the Social Security informing you that they overpaid you thousands of dollars. Lastly, the Social Security Administration has the audacity to demand payment within 30 days.
For most people receiving disability benefits, it would be an extreme financial hardship to have to repay thousands of dollars in a short amount of time. Fortunately, disability recipients do have some options. And in some cases, the overpayment might even be waived.
The Social Security Administration will waive an overpayment if the following exists:
- It was Social Security’s fault that the overpayment happened.
- Paying back the overpayment would cause undue hardship.
Getting past the first requirement is easy. Unless an individual returned to work and continued to receive disability payments while working simultaneously, then it will almost always be Social Security’s fault in creating the overpayment. Most cases depend on the second requirement, whether the overpayment will cause an economic hardship.
If a disability recipient has adequate funds in the bank to repay Social Security, they will likely lose their bid to have their overpayment waived. If, on the other hand, the recipient is financially unable to pay for things like rent or food, because of repaying Social Security, the overpayment might be waived.
The first thing you want to do if you receive an overpayment and you disagree with Social Security’s assessment, you want to formally dispute it by appealing it. If your waiver request is denied by Social Security and you still disagree with the alleged overpayment, the next step is to request a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge.
In the end, most claimants work out some kind of payment plan with Social Security to avoid having their entire benefit withheld each month. The worst thing a claimant can do is ignore Social Security’s request for repayment.
For more information about Social Security Disability benefits, please visit www.markhofflaw.com or contact the office of Markhoff & Mittman at 866-205-2415
November 16, 2009
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