Social Security to recover overpayments

#SocialSecurityOverpayments #Seniors #SSI

Word is that Social Security is going to “claw back” any overpayment to the tune of 100% of the monthly benefit check until it’s all paid back, inciting panic across the land. But it’s not necessarily true.

That recovery of benefits will only affect overpayments that began on March 27 of this year. Yes, they’ll take full payments until that overpayment is repaid. But any overpayments made prior to that date will be made at the rate that was in place before: 10% of the benefit check.

So, if your check is usually $1,000, the amount they’ll take out is $100, not your full check. It will be the same if you receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). They’ll take 10%, not the full check. Not that having any amount deducted will be easy. Before you start to panic that you might get the dreaded “overpayment” letter from Social Security, here are a few facts, courtesy of a report by Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General:

Overpayment (and even underpayment) doesn’t happen very often, in less than 1% of benefits paid. There are two main reasons why an error can occur: People report the wrong information about their income or fail to make corrections if there are changes (especially those who are under full retirement age and still working), and there are problems with Social Security’s processing, specifically errors made when workers enter the data. If you receive the overpayment letter, you might be able to waive the recovery of the amount owed, especially if the overpayment was not your fault.

Go to the Social Security website and look for SSA form 632 (www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html). If that doesn’t go well, you can appeal by using SSA form 561 (www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-561.html). You can also try calling them at 800-772-1213. If that doesn’t work, look for a Social Security office in your area by going to secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp and putting in your ZIP code.

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