Overpayments

An overpayment occurs when Social Security pays you more than you should have been paid. If this happens, we will notify you and your representative payee, if you have one. Our notice will explain why you have been overpaid, your repayment options, and your appeal and waiver rights. You should read the notice carefully.

Options for repaying

If you agree that you have been paid too much and that the overpayment amount is correct, you have options for repaying it.

If you are receiving Social Security benefits, we will withhold the full amount of your benefit each month, unless you ask for a lesser withholding amount and we approve your request. Full withholding would start 30 days after we notify you of the overpayment.

If you are receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), generally we will withhold 10 percent of the maximum federal benefit rate each month. If you cannot afford this, you may ask that less be taken from your benefit. Or you may ask to pay back the overpayment at a rate greater than 10 percent.

We do not start deducting money from your SSI payments until at least 60 days after we notify you of the overpayment.

If you no longer receive SSI, but you do receive Social Security, you can pay back your SSI overpayment by having up to 10 percent of your monthly Social Security benefit withheld.

If you are not receiving benefits, you should:

• Send a check to Social Security for the entire amount of the overpayment within 30 days; or
• Contact us to set up a plan to pay back the amount in monthly installments.

If you are not receiving benefits, and you do not pay the amount back, we can recover the overpayment from your federal income tax refund or from your wages if you are working. Also, we can recover overpayments from future SSI or Social Security benefits. We also will report the delinquency to credit bureaus.

Appeal and waiver rights

If you do not agree that you have been overpaid, or if you believe the amount is incorrect, you can appeal by filing form SSA-561. You can get the form online or by calling us or visiting your local office. Your appeal must be in writing.

You should explain why you think you have not been overpaid or why you think the amount is not correct.

You have 60 days from the date you received the original overpayment notice to file an appeal. We assume you got this letter five days after the date on it, unless you show us that you did not get it within the five-day period. You must have a good reason for waiting more than 60 days to ask for an appeal.

If you believe you should not have to pay the money back, you can request that we waive collection. You must submit form SSA-632, which you can get online or by calling us or visiting your local office.

There is no time limit for filing a waiver. You will have to prove that:

• The overpayment was not your fault; and
• Paying it back would cause you financial hardship or be unfair for some other reason.

We may ask you to give us proof of your income and expenses. We also may ask you to meet with us. If so, it is important for you to attend this meeting.

We will stop recovering the overpayment until we make a decision on either your request for an appeal or a waiver.

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Contacting Social Security

Our website is a valuable resource for information about all of Social Security’s programs. There are a number of things you can do online.

In addition to using our website, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213. We can answer specific questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. We can provide information by automated phone service 24 hours a day. (You can use our automated response system to tell us a new address or request a replacement Medicare card.) If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

We treat all calls confidentially. We also want to make sure you receive accurate and courteous service. That is why we have a second Social Security representative monitor some telephone calls.

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