Question: I was working and reporting my income to the Social Security Administration (SSA). They now tell me that I was overpaid for disability benefits. What can I do?
Answer: If you get a letter from the SSA indicating that you were overpaid you must act quickly to avoid collections. Within 30 days of their letter you can submit a reconsideration alleging that their information is not accurate or their information is not complete.
You can also file a waiver. In order to file a waiver, the overpayment can’t be your fault and you must prove that you can’t pay back the money without significant hardship.
Either way you can potentially temporarily halt collections until a new decision is made.
If you can’t afford their proposed payback then you can negotiate a reduction based on your income and expenses. If there are changes in the overpayment recovery rate, it is also sometimes possible to file a waiver to eliminate them totally.
As a last resort you can discharge the overpayment in a simple bankruptcy case most of the time.
R. Richard Hanson has been handing Social Security Disability cases for over 30 years and provides free consultations, please call 269-381-4471 today to discuss your case.