Education for Justice

FACT SHEET G-12

Fall 2011

 

SSI OVERPAYMENT

 

 

 

An overpayment means that you got more SSI money than you were supposed to.  This can happen because you forgot to report a change in your income, that you were in the hospital, the death of a spouse, or other things.  Or Social Security can make a mistake.  Even if it was their fault, Social Security can ask you to pay back the money.

 

 

HOW CAN I AVOID AN OVERPAYMENT?

Report changes right away to Social Security.  Even if you report right away, the next check may be sent before the amount can be changed.  Then you have an overpayment.

 

Some examples of things that could cause an overpayment are:  getting married; working; or getting a large payment, like an insurance award or car accident settlement.  If you think such a change may happen, get legal advice about choices you can make to avoid an overpayment.

 

 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I GET AN OVERPAYMENT?

Social Security will try to get the money back from you.  They can also report the overpayment to credit bureaus so it’s on your credit report. 

 

·         SSI can ask you to repay the whole amount now, or to repay it over time.  You do not have to agree to this.

 

·         They can take the money out of your SSI checks.  They can only take up to 10% of your check.  This is called “recoupment.”

 

·         They can take your federal tax refund or other federal money due you or your spouse if your spouse is on SSI.

 

·         They can sue in court for the overpayment plus court costs.  They do not do this if you are still on SSI.

 

 

WHAT IF THE OVERPAYMENT IS SMALL?

If it is $500 or less, Social Security will not try to get the money, if you ask them not to.  This is called an “administrative waiver.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT IF SOCIAL SECURITY IS GOING TO RECOUP FROM MY CHECK?

You can do these things:

  • Agree to pay it back and work out a payment plan.  This way you get some control of how much is taken out of your check.  See if they will take less than 10% per check.

 

  • Appeal.  If you do not think you were overpaid, you can appeal.  File a written appeal right away.  See our fact sheet, G-11 SSI Appeals for how to do this.

­   Appeal within 10 days of getting the notice if you want your checks to stay at the same amount during the appeal

­   Appeal within 60 days of getting the notice, or you lose the right to appeal. 

 

  • Ask for a “waiver”.  This means that even if you were overpaid, you should not have to pay it back.  If you cannot afford to pay the money back, file for a waiver right away.  If you file within 30 days of getting the overpayment notice, Social Security cannot take money from your check until you have a meeting with them.  They have to give you the waiver if the overpayment wasn’t your fault, and:

 

      • It would be unfair to make you repay it (for example, you cannot afford to pay it back, and it would be a great hardship), or

 

      • The overpayment is small and not worth the time and energy to collect it.

 

You can file for both an appeal and a waiver at the same time.

 

 

WHAT IF I LOSE MY APPEAL?

If your first overpayment appeal and waiver request is denied, you can appeal further.  See our fact sheet, G-11 SSI Appeals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To find other Legal Aid Society materials, including the fact sheets mentioned in this document, go to www.lawhelpmn.org/LASMfactsheets.

 

 

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MN Legal Services Coalition

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