Social Security Eliminates Overpayment Burden for Social Security Beneficiaries – Automatic Overpayment Recovery Rate Reduced to 10 Percent
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: April 17, 2024
Social Security announced it will decrease the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries to ten percent (or $10, whichever is greater) from 100 percent, significantly reducing financial hardship on people with overpayments.
“Social Security is taking a critically important step towards our goal of ensuring our overpayment policies are fair, equitable, and do not unduly harm anyone,” said Martin O’Malley, Commissioner of Social Security. “It’s unconscionable that someone would find themselves facing homelessness or unable to pay bills, because Social Security withheld their entire payment for recovery of an overpayment.”
The agency works to pay the right people the right amounts at the right time, and Social Security issues correct payments in most cases. However, there is room to improve, as people count on the agency to prevent overpayments from happening and make it easier to navigate the recovery and waiver processes when they occur.
When a person has been overpaid, the law requires the agency to seek repayment, which can create financial difficulties for beneficiaries. As of March 25, 2024, the agency will collect ten percent (or $10, whichever is greater) of the total monthly Social Security benefit to recover an overpayment, rather than collecting 100 percent as was previous procedure. There will be limited exceptions to this change, such as when an overpayment resulted from fraud.
There will be a short transition period where people will continue to experience the older policy. People placed in 100 percent withholding during this transition period should call Social Security’s National 800 Number at 1-800-772-1213 to lower their withholding rate.
The change applies to new overpayments. If beneficiaries already have an overpayment with a withholding rate greater than ten percent and would like a lower recovery rate, they too should call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or their local Social Security office to speak with a representative. If a beneficiary requests a rate lower than ten percent, a representative will approve the request if it allows recovery of the overpayment within 60 months – a recent increase to improve how the agency serves its customers from the previous policy of only 36 months. If the beneficiary’s proposed rate would extend recovery of the overpayment beyond 60 months, the Social Security representative will gather income, resource, and expense information from the beneficiary to make a determination.
Social Security launched a comprehensive review in October 2023 of agency overpayment policies and procedures to address payment accuracy systematically. Learn about Overpayments and Our Process and read our Press Release. This procedure change is a direct result of the ongoing review. This change and the adjustment to 60-month repayment are part of four recently announced key updates to address improper payments. The agency also is working to reduce wage-related improper payments by establishing information exchanges with payroll data providers that will significantly reduce the number of improper payments, once implemented. The agency will continue examining programmatic policy and making regulatory and sub-regulatory changes to improve the overpayment process.
Additionally, people have the right to appeal the overpayment decision or the amount. They can ask Social Security to waive collection of the overpayment, if they believe it was not their fault and can’t afford to pay it back. The agency does not pursue recoveries while an initial appeal or waiver is pending. Even if people do not want to appeal or request a waiver, they should contact the agency if the planned withholding would cause hardship. Social Security has flexible repayment options, including repayment of as low as $10 per month. Each person’s situation is unique, and the agency handles overpayments on a case-by-case basis.
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Philip A.
Hi, my name is Phil and I am in a very similar situation. In May of 2024 I become involved in an overpayment that started 29 months ago. I got a letter stating that I owed Social security $86,000.00 and to make check payable to social security within thirty days, I almost feel over over and to make things worse I haven’t had a check in 4 months. This has sent me in a tail spin and when trying to reason with SS I get twisted answers and hung up on. It’s ridiculous. I’m behind on my house payments, my credit is shot, I work a part a time job and it takes every cent I can scrape up just to pay utility’s and put food on the table. My overpayment was only $16 a month but yet no one from ss bothered to call or send a letter stating I was being overpaid early on, they let it go for 29 months. I truly hope that this doesn’t happen to anyone else
David
29×16 is not $86,000.00
Tobi S.
I lost my income for 6 months after doing everything they asked me too. When the supervisor realized what occurred quickly reinstated my ssa including the back for the 6 months. They say I had an overpayment for ssi I don’t receive ssi though they took the the whole amount like screw how I lived the last 6 months how I dropped out of school because I had to sale my laptop to gdt me and babies something to eat a room. How we slept in the car off and on.They did it so dirty though the cut my ssi on one month to take the overpayment then cut it back off the next month even though I was already appealing the overpayment
Troph
This is exactly what is happening in my situation, I’ve lost everything. Do what I’m doing though- sue them. They broke the law, and they are now needing to be held accountable for the damages they have caused you and me and everyone else who hasn’t spoke up against them. I’m homeless and sold my car just to get by and I’m still without my benefits.
I was on ssdi ssi for 16 years- they don’t care. But they’ll have to care when you take them to court. Save everything and prepare, we didn’t deserve this. None of us did.
Trisha M.
This post is not true!!!! I need desperate help for my father is a veteran and has gone homeless, his credit has been ruined, and he has lost everything due to his benefits and only income being completely cut off with no resolution in May 2024. I have been working since early June with no resolution. I bet you will reply with the phone number and website….it is no help and I have called more times than I can count and waited on hold more time than I choose to admit. Nobody who answers those calls can provide any resolution. You wait and hour to be told that it is in review, they have marked it as a dire situation, and they all tell you something different that you should have done, and I can not begin to tell you how many times we have been hung up on….and I am always extremely kind. Why is our country supporting millions of illegal migrants while we are letting our veterans and senior citizens go homeless. This is the United States of America!!!! SSA, you should be ashamed of yourself! My father will not make it much longer without a resolution. His dignity and livelihood have been stripped and his country is spitting on him. He needs help! I have e-mailed government officials and any other people I can find that may be able to help. All I get is directed back to the website and phone number and you know as well as I that they do not do anything. Why is our country paying all of these people to take calls who have no way to help and can only blame the “processing center” on why we have no answers. My father deserves answers and help!!!!
S.S.
We’re sorry to hear about your experience, Trisha. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. We encourage you to continue to work with your local Social Security office. You can ask to speak with a supervisor during your next call or visit. Or you can call us at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. You can also submit feedback by visiting our How can we help? webpage. From there, select the “Email Us” link. This will take you to the “Email Our Support Team” form where you can submit a compliment, complaint, or suggestion. We hope this is resolved soon.
Susan L.
Hi,
I have been doing SSA disability applications for 14 years. This year I have been told two things by the Missoula MT SSA FO. One was that when figuring out how much a person can earn while on or applying for disability benefits, they must times their weekly gross income by 4.333 rather than just by 4 when figuring out how much they can earn from working. SSA does not tell people this, so it puts them in overpayment. The other issue I have with SSA is that I was recently told by Missoula SSA FO that my consumers are no long eligible for the SSDI they were getting off their parents’ income because they got married! So now both of them have no income! We were told that they would have to apply for SSI. So now they are in jeopardy of losing their housing! I have never heard of this before either. Is it really true? I have researched and have found it says it is true but that there are exceptions. I cannot find what the exceptions are. My work # is 406-215-1604 ex1
Tammy
There’s no help for anyone stuck in the Social Security loop. I myself am at risk of losing everything and cannot go to doctor appointments or physical therapy appointments due to the license plates on my car being expired. I was approved in July with an onset disability date of October 2021. Social security is taking most of my first benefit check this month for Medicare payments and I will not receive a full disability check until the end of October. I try to get answers on my back pay only to have a representative blame it on the judge who made the decision or the payment processing center whom they state they cannot contact except by email.
Why are tax dollars being wasted for people to answer calls for social security that are of no help or assistance for the disabled working class?
Mark P.
This is a lie. Social Security office in Berkeley CA required me to fill out a form required to prove hardship just to get my overpayment deduction reduced to 10% and there is no fraud involved and it will still be paid off in under 60 months. Stop lying to the news media to help get Harris elected
Yvonne R.
I was in a situation in 2021. I applied for SS Benefits., when I was called for phone interview, I informed the Representative that I was back to work and I wanted to withdraw my application. I was informed at that time by the Rep., to continue with the interview. We went through the process and I was told that SS owed me X amount of money and that the check would be deposited in my account with in the week. I received the money and at the time I had been off work due to illness that kept me out of work for a few months. About 6 months later I received a letter from SSA saying I owed X amount of dollars. When I explained the situation and what I was told by the Rep, I was verbally assaulted by the Rep. I was made to feel like It was my vault and that I had lie. To this day I pay well over 10 percent.
Chris P.
Writing this to serve as a warning to others.
When my husband went on long-term disability from his state job, as a retiree, I became ineligible to be carried under his insurance (don’t ask me why this is a rule, I have no clue). I was forced to apply for Medicare Part B in January 2024. The state pension office specifically requested on my application that Part B start on Feb. 1. Didn’t happen. Nor did it happen in March. I checked the SSA site frequently to see if my status had changed – nothing. Correspondence – none. Medicare card -nowhere to be found. Medicare insurance: unusable without a card.
I also checked in with the pension office each month to tell them I still hadn’t been approved and to ensure that they continued to contact SSA about moving my application along and to make sure they continued to take out premiums from my pension check to pay for my state health insurance plan until Medicare kicked in.
In mid-April, I received a letter saying I owed SSA $540 in overpayments for Medicare insurance premiums for January, February and March. I immediately filed an appeal to tell them I was NOT covered by Medicare for those months, that I had no Medicare card and no way to use it, and to not take the $540 from my May paycheck because I was appealing the overpayment. When my May paycheck was deposited, it was short $750 for Medicare premiums for January, February, March and April! I talked to my representative’s congressional staff last month and gave them copies of all the paperwork I had – they were quite interested. It’s now August, and the only thing I’ve received from SSA is a “We’re looking into it” letter that came a couple of weeks after talking with the congressional staff. I’d really like to get my money back.
In the last year, I’ve had a friend who lost his entire savings after getting steered wrong by a SSA staff member who told him he wouldn’t go over the earnings cap, and subsequently had to go with no SSA pay whatsoever for 3 months when he went over the cap. He can barely afford his rent. And my husband is dealing with overpayments from the state’s long-term disability insurance company, apparently caused by miscalculations of his SSDI benefit.
The government needs to subject itself to the same “No Surprise Bills” legislation that hospitals are now required to observe. Until that happens, this country’s answer to getting old or becoming disabled is to kick you while you’re down and make sure you suffer financially.
Victoria T.
No one would tell me what to do on how to get a reduction on back pay. They started taking my entire check! I called and asked them how they could do that. Leave me with nothing. I lost everything. I’m homeless.
I told them they shouldn’t be able to do this … My only response from them was. “WELL THEY DID!”
T.Y.
Hello, Victoria. Thank you for reading our blog. We are sorry to hear of your situation and we understand your frustration. Unfortunately, your problem is more complex than we can handle in this forum. For your security, we do not have access to information about your overpayment. For more information and to learn about appeal and waiver rights read our publication on “Overpayments“. If you still have questions, or for further assistance, you should call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-078) for assistance, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Wait times to speak to a representative are typically shorter early in the day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or later in the afternoon (between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time). We hope this information helps.
Nicole M.
Victoria….this has happened to my father too. He is now homeless and his entire payments have been taken since May 2024. He is losing everything and his credit has been destroyed. I have called the 800 number so many times and there is no help. The people on those phone lines have no power to make any decisions….only to tell you that it is in review or that the processing center has it. How can the government allow this to happen? I am so sorry that this is happening to you too.
Julie
I lost my husband in March of 2021. I filled for survivor benefits and started receiving them a short time later. I received a letter of overpayment June 13,2024 and was informed that all payments would be withheld until December 2024. Withholding my SSI until December will cause me to file for bankruptcy and lose everything. I will have our home paid off in September of 2027. Losing my husband is hard enough but then to lose our home on top of that is more than I can bare! I donot understand how SS can just stop providing benefits in 8 days but I was told it would take 3-4 months for my appeal to be processed. How am I going to pay my bills and survive until December of 2024? June 28, 2024 I filed a formal appeal. July 8, 2024 I provided all documents to my local SS office and still have not been able to set up a repayment plan or find out the status of my appeal. Can anyone please help! I am feeling very defeated and discouraged.
S.D.
We’re sorry to hear about your situation, Julie. For your security, we do not have access to private information in this venue. Our new policy allows us to collect 10% of your total monthly Social Security benefit to recover most overpayments. We encourage you to continue to work with your local Social Security office. You can ask to speak with a supervisor during your next call or visit. For more information about the overpayment process, visit our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope this is resolved soon.
Julie
I filled for survivor benefits and started receiving them a short time later. I received a letter of overpayment June 13,2024 and was informed that all payments would be withheld until December 2024. Withholding my SSI until December will cause me to file for bankruptcy and lose everything. I will have our home paid off in September of 2027. Losing my husband is hard enough but then to lose our home on top of that is more than I can bare! I donot understand how SS can just stop providing benefits in 8 days but I was told it would take 3-4 months for my appeal to be processed. How am I going to pay my bills and survive until December of 2024? June 28, 2024 I filed a formal appeal. July 8, 2024 I provided all documents to my local SS office and still have not been able to set up a repayment plan or find out the status of my appeal. Can anyone please help! I am feeling very defeated and discouraged.
steven l.
Interesting. My July SSA payment never showed up and online it just shows payment issued through June and then August. Nothing about July. Coincidentally they indicate I had an overpayment (news to me) and they deducted it from August check. More than 10% I can tell you.