A disability overpayment can hurt your future SSDI disability benefits if not handled correctly. The Social Security Administration (SSA) may reduce your monthly payments to recover overpayments. It may demand full repayment, deny tax refunds, and take legal action against you. It may also disqualify you from future SSDI benefits. The most common reasons for excess disability payments include providing inaccurate income information during application and miscalculations by the SSA. Retain a Social Security disability attorney immediately after the SSA sends you an overpayment notice. The lawyer will review the notice and help you address the issue while protecting your rights every step of the way.

At Ankin Law, we’ve helped SSDI beneficiaries properly address disability overpayments with the SSA. We can also help you appeal or negotiate a compromise to allow you to repay the amount comfortably. Call us at (872) 529-9377 for a free consultation with one of our social security disability lawyers.

What Causes Disability Overpayment from Social Security?

The SSA made overpayments worth $11.1 billion in the 2022 financial year. It managed to recover almost $5 billion in 2023. Still, it had a $23 billion deficit in unrecovered overpayment at the end of 2023 financial year. Overpayments occur due to several reasons. These reasons originate from the Administration or beneficiary. They include:

Failure to Provide Correct Income Information

All disability applicants and beneficiaries must provide accurate income information. Income is a key factor in determining how disability payments are calculated. The agency follows strict statutory rules when determining the earning threshold that qualifies for disability benefits. Applicants may provide incorrect information during application because of a lack of understanding of the eligibility policies. That may result in monthly disability overpayments.

Miscalculations by the SSA

A disability overpayment may also occur due to mistakes made by the Administration. For example, the agency may not process applicants’ information promptly. There may also be errors in data entry or inaccuracies in its application policies.

The Social Security disability benefits are part of a federal insurance program. The program processes millions of applications monthly. It also determines the amount of disability benefits each beneficiary will receive. Managing such administrative tasks at the federal level may lead to mishaps. There’s a high likelihood for the overpaid benefits to accrue before the quarterly or annual data report is generated.

Other reasons you may receive SSDI disability overpayment include:

  • Receiving payments when you are no longer disabled
  • Failure to report changes in your social and financial situation in time as recommended
  • Failure to report changes in your marital status

How Overpayment Can Impact Your Ongoing SSDI Benefits

Receiving disability overpayments without correctly addressing the issue can have negative SSDI overpayment consequences. The Administration may reduce your benefits. It may also suspend your future payments. In other circumstances, it may choose to collect the excess payments.

If the agency discovers overpayments, it will send you a Notice of Overpayment. The notice contains details of the overpaid amount, with a 30-day repayment period. It’s crucial to read the document. Ensure the information is correct, paying attention to the dates and amounts.

What to Do When You Receive a Notice of Overpayment

Beneficiaries who receive notices may take steps to protect their rights. You have two options:

Appeal the Overpayment Claim

You have the right to appeal if you believe the overpayment claim in the notice is incorrect. Perhaps you were never overpaid. Or maybe you received excess Social Security disability benefits because of an SSA administrative error.

You can appeal the collection of overpaid amounts by filing a “Request for Reconsideration.” You must submit the request within 60 days of receiving the notification. The Administration will review the overpayment report upon receiving your reconsideration request.

Exercise Your Waiver Rights

You can request the SSA to waive its overpayment claim if you were legally entitled to the overpayment. If you’re eligible for a waiver, the Administration will send you an approval notice within 30 days of receiving the waiver request. You can request a waiver at any time, even after you’ve repaid the amount.

The SSA may approve a waiver request in several circumstances. An example is when the overpayment notice was due to an administrative error by the agency. A waiver may also be granted if you were not informed to make changes or are mentally incapacitated to understand the reporting guidelines.

When to Consult a Disability Lawyer About an SSDI Overpayment

It’s recommended to consult a Social Security disability lawyer as soon as possible if you receive a Notice of Overpayment. The SSA sets strict regulatory and statutory policies. The appeal process follows a legal framework that can be daunting to a non-lawyer. A lawyer will protect your rights, communicate your best interests, and handle correspondences with the SSA.

What Can a Disability Lawyer Do for You?

A lawyer can file an appeal on your behalf. Typically, applicants must file Form SSA-561 or Form SSA-632, depending on their reason for appeal. Each form must be properly filled out, with all the required details. The paperwork must then be filed within the stipulated timeline. Navigating that process can be challenging if you don’t understand the regulatory guidelines. The Administration may deny your request if you don’t provide the required details or meet deadlines.

A disability lawyer for overpayment can prepare all the documents and submit them on time to improve the likelihood of getting approval.

A lawyer’s legal support can be valuable if the SSA denies your appeal. The lawyer will leverage his or her negotiation skills to persuade the Administration to agree to a compromise amount and suspend or terminate its debt collection.

Depending on the reason for the disability overpayment, the SSA may compromise, suspend, or terminate its pursuit of the debt. However, it may have to enforce its statutory authority to collect the overpaid amounts if the beneficiary received overpayments due to fraud, submitting a false claim, or misrepresentation.

You can count on our Social Security disability lawyers at Ankin Law for dedicated legal support if you or a loved one recently received a Notice of Overpayment from the SSA. Contact us to set up a free consultation.