What if you get extra money from Social Security that doesn’t belong to you? Would you spend it? Would you notify the Social Security Administration of this situation? Well, this is what happens when you get the famous Social Security overpayments that then the SSA is going to claim back.
To talk about this, we will illustrate with the true case of a woman named Chevonne, who has found herself in serious financial straits trying to deal with Social Security overpayments.
In the blog about Social Security, Chevonne says that she has to get by with less than $400 a month, which poses significant challenges to be able to cover all her expenses for food, housing, utilities and medicines. Chevonne affirms that she has health problems as a result of the excessive stress caused by her financial situation, a point she emphasized in her publication on the official website blog.ssa.gov.
“I won’t even try to work unless they find a better way for me to live and not be a slave to Social Security,” Chevonne said, visibly stressed. “They have to improve so that my quality of life is better,” she added.
A similar case is that of Tracy and Jade, who are being crushed by an overpayment debt after being told that they owed $4000 to the SSA for money that was not theirs. Tracey and Jade Boyer posted on Facebook in a legal advice group about retirement and Social Security.
When Tracy and Jade got confused, they decided to approach the local Social Security office to clear things up and try to fix them. Instead, they were met with an even more heartbreaking piece of information: they discovered that the debt was actually not hers or her husband’s, but her father’s partner who died in 1980.
They made the waiver claim and are awaiting a response from the SSA within 60 to 90 days. The problem is that while this case is being solved, the Boyer couple will have their Social Security benefits suspended, since they are retired and have no income.
The Undesired Overpayments: Silent Enemy of Social Security Beneficiaries
Social Security overpayments occur when the SSA fails to calculate exactly how many benefits a beneficiary is entitled to. As a result of this miscalculation, beneficiaries receive more money than they should, generating so-called overpayments. They can happen for various reasons, such as an unreported income, that is, when a beneficiary does not accurately report his income or changes in his current financial situation. The SSA can miscalculate your benefits and pay more than you should.
It can also happen due to changes in marital status, such as marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse. This can affect Social Security benefits. If these changes are not reported correctly and in a timely manner, overpayments may occur that the SSA will then proceed to collect back.
A beneficiary may also receive overpayments because they returned to work while receiving Social Security benefits and earned more than the set limits. Although they are less common, some administrative errors in the calculations can also lead to an overpayment to a beneficiary.
How to Deal with Social Security Overpayments
If the SSA notified you about an overpayment you have received somewhere between yesterday and the last thousand years (yeah, the SSA is enabled o do that), the agency will demand that the money be returned to you within 30 days of the notification. 5 days are added to the grace period when the notification is given by mail, considering the delay times that this system has.
It may seem distressing at first, but you should not panic. The SSA offers the possibility to request a waiver or reconsideration within the aforementioned 30-day deadline. When you make this request, and it is correctly received by the SSA, the collection will be delayed until a decision is made regarding the request: it will be analyzed by SSA experts to determine what are the possibilities of offering an exemption to the beneficiary or if it corresponds that the effective collection is made.
