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Fee Agreements |
The Fee Agreement ProcessA fee agreement is a written statement signed by the claimant and his or her appointed representative specifying the fee the representative expects to charge and collect, and the claimant expects to pay, for services the representative provides in pursuing the claimant's benefit rights in proceedings before the Social Security Administration (SSA). For SSA to approve a fee agreement, the representative must submit it before the date of the first favorable determination or decision (hereinafter, we generally refer to both as a "decision") SSA makes on a claim after the representative's appointment. If the representative does not submit a fee agreement by that date, SSA assumes the representative either will file a fee petition or waive a fee. If the representative submits a fee agreement before the date SSA makes a favorable decision, SSA will approve the fee agreement at the time of the favorable decision if the statutory conditions for approval are met and no exceptions to the fee agreement process apply. Once SSA approves the fee agreement, the fee specified in the agreement is the maximum fee the representative may charge and collect for all services in the claim. The fee agreement and fee petition processes are not interchangeable. However, if a representative elects the fee agreement process but SSA does not approve the agreement, or if an SSA reviewing official upholds a disapproval of a fee agreement on administrative review, the representative must file a fee petition if he or she wants to charge and collect a fee. SSA must consider a fee agreement for approval under the fee agreement
process through all levels of the administrative appeals process. |
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Federal Register: Increase In The Specified Dollar Limit Of The Authorized Fee |
In a Federal Register Notice published February 4, 2009 (74 FR 6080) SSA announced an increased dollar amount that may be authorized under the fee agreement process. The increased specified dollar limit may apply for fee agreements approved on or after June 22, 2009. Federal Register/ Vol. 74, No. 22/Wednesday, February 4, 2009/Notices [view .pdf version] [view .txt version]
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Favorable Decision Date |
The date SSA makes a favorable
decision is the date shown on the notice of favorable decision. It
is not the date of adjudication or effectuation. For claims decided
at the initial or reconsideration level, the date of the notice to
the claimant is the controlling date. Therefore, if the claimant or
representative submits, and SSA receives, a fee agreement before SSA
issues the notice of favorable decision, the claim(s) will be processed
as a fee agreement claim. For claims decided by the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review
(ODAR), the date of the notice of hearing decision or notice
of Appeals Council decision is controlling. |
Conditions For Approval Of A Fee Agreement |
The following statutory conditions must be met for a representative to obtain SSA's approval to charge and collect a fee under the fee agreement process:
The maximum above also applies to concurrent titles II and XVI claims or to post entitlement actions with a common issue. For example, in concurrent titles II and XVI disability claims, SSA will not approve an agreement that calls for a fee that exceeds the lesser of 25 percent of the combined titles II and XVI past-due benefits amount or the specified dollar amount in the bullets above. |
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Exceptions To The Fee Agreement Process |
In certain situations approval of a fee agreement is administratively unfeasible, either because it could lead to authorization of fees in excess of the statutory limit under the fee agreement process, or could otherwise cause inequity for a claimant or a representative. Therefore, SSA will not approve a fee agreement for purposes of authorizing a representative's fee in the following situations:
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Information To Include In A Fee Agreement |
The Social Security Act (the Act) does not require using specific language in a fee agreement. Therefore, representatives may craft their own fee agreement language and SSA will approve the agreement if it meets the statutory conditions of the Act and no exceptions apply. SSA has written fee agreement model language that complies with the statutory conditions for approval of a fee agreement. However, because a fee agreement is a contract between a representative and his or her client, each fee agreement is unique, may appear in any form, and may include provisions in addition to the fee. For example, a fee agreement may contain additional provisions for payment of out-of-pocket expenses for medical reports, interest on an unpaid balance of an authorized fee, or for establishing a trust or escrow account, etc. Representatives may use stamped or photocopied signatures in lieu
of their actual signatures on a fee agreement, and may submit a photocopy
(or fax) of the original fee agreement. A fee agreement stamped only
with a representative's firm's name is not acceptable. |
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Provisions That Will Not Prevent SSA’s Approval Of A Fee Agreement |
SSA will not disapprove a fee agreement solely because it contains a provision stating that:
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Provisions That Will Cause SSA To Disapprove A Fee Agreement |
The following are examples of provisions that are inconsistent with the statutory condition that the fee specified in the agreement does not exceed the lesser of 25 percent of the past-due benefits or the specified dollar amount (e.g., $5300, $6000). SSA will disapprove a fee agreement containing a provision stating that:
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SSA's Action On A Fee Agreement |
If SSA makes a favorable decision on the claim, SSA will either approve or disapprove the fee agreement when it issues the favorable decision. If SSA's decision on the claim is unfavorable, SSA does not make a determination on the fee agreement and will not provide notice about the fee agreement. SSA's determination on a fee agreement is limited to whether the agreement meets the statutory conditions of the Act and is not otherwise excepted. If an SSA decision maker approves a fee agreement that does not meet the statutory requirements of the Act, or is otherwise excepted, SSA cannot authorize a fee under the fee agreement process. In such cases, an SSA reviewer will disapprove the fee agreement and advise the claimant and the representative that:
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Claims Involving Partially Favorable Decisions |
If SSA issues a partially favorable decision, the decision maker will approve the fee agreement if the statutory conditions are met and no exceptions apply, and SSA will authorize a fee under the terms of the agreement. If on appeal, SSA makes a more favorable decision yielding additional benefits, SSA will use the additional benefits when recalculating the past-due benefits, and may authorize an additional fee under the fee agreement process, subject to the limits established by the fee agreement, but not to exceed the lesser of 25 percent of the past-due benefits or the specified dollar amount (e.g., $5300, $6000). If SSA authorized fees subject to the limits established by the fee agreement and not exceeding the lesser of 25 percent of the past-due benefits or the specified dollar amount (e.g., $5300, $6000), and SSA subsequently makes a more favorable decision on appeal that results in additional past-due benefits, SSA will not authorize additional fees under the fee agreement. However, if the representative wants to be able to charge more for any reason (e.g., because of the additional work anticipated on the appeal), within 15 days after receipt of his or her copy of the notice of fee authorization, the representative has the right to file a timely request for administrative review of the amount of the fee. If a request for administrative review is filed, an SSA reviewing official will process the request after SSA has completed its action on the appeal. If on appeal, SSA makes a less favorable or unfavorable decision, SSA will adjust both the past-due benefits, if any, resulting from the new decision, and the fee previously authorized. In these cases, the representative must refund any excess payment. |
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Claims With Multiple Favorable Decisions |
One of the statutory conditions for approval of a fee agreement is that the parties submit the agreement to SSA before the date of the favorable decision. In claims involving more than one favorable decision (i.e., partially favorable decisions resulting in a more favorable decision on appeal), SSA considers when the representative entered the claim in determining whether the statutory conditions for approval are met. For SSA to approve a fee agreement in a claim(s) resulting in more than one favorable decision, the claimant or representative must file the agreement with SSA before the date of the first favorable decision SSA made after the representative entered the case. Unless the claimant or representative files the fee agreement before the date of the first favorable decision SSA made after the representative's involvement began, SSA presumes that the representative will either waive his or her fee or use the fee petition process to obtain SSA's approval to charge and collect a fee. The fee agreement and the fee petition processes are not interchangeable. Therefore, a representative may not convert to the fee agreement process during the course of appealing a partially favorable decision. For purposes of calculating a fee under an approved fee agreement
in a claim(s) involving more than one favorable decision, "past-due
benefits" are those additional benefits resulting from the favorable
decision SSA made after the representative became involved in the
claim. |
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Last reviewed or modified Wednesday Apr 01, 2009 |