Every year, thousands of social security disability recipients/beneficiaries receive in the mail a written Notice of Overpayment from the Social Security Administration. An SSA Notice of Overpayment can occur for many reasons, but they all share one feature: the recipient receives a notification from SSA that they have been paid too much, often many thousands of dollars. Social Security explains that the beneficiary can simply write a check to Social Security for the total amount they demand.
Crazy huh? Think about that: Disabled people who cannot work to begin with and are living on SSA benefits alone are being told to often pay tens of thousands of dollars because SSA paid too much? That really makes no sense. If a Social Security Recipient had tens of thousands of dollars at their disposal, they would not likely need disability benefits to begin with…
Generally, notwithstanding the reason for the overpayment notification, there are only a few options you have to address their overpayment. These actions include:
1. Totally agreeing with the allegation of overpayment and then paying in full the amount of SSA overpayment. This can be done via regular mail and payment can even be made online.
2. Disagreeing with the overpayment notice and requesting reconsideration. This is called a “non-medical” appeal. You will have an opportunity to provide additional information and/or explain why you think you have not been overpaid, or why the amount is incorrect. You use SSA Form 561. https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-561.pdf
3. Agreeing with the amount of overpayment on the overpayment notice and requesting a Waiver of Overpayment Recovery. You have a chance to explain that the error causing the overpayment was not yours but social security’s fault, OR that you are unable to pay the amount. You use SSA Form 632 https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632-bk.pdf
4. Agreeing with the amount of overpayment and being willing to pay back but just at a different (much lower) amount. This is what most people choose. This way they pay back but at a greatly reduced amount. Something that will not cause undue hardship. You use SAA Form 634 Form https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-634.pdf
Importantly, MOST attorneys will not represent a person in an overpayment matter. This is because a lawyer can ONLY collect a fee from Social Security representation if the person is seeking benefits and there is a chance for retroactive, (back) benefits. Because in an overpayment case there are NO back benefits that may be payable, a social security attorney cannot collect a fee. For that reason, most people with overpayment charges are unrepresented