CLEVELAND — If you or a loved one relies on Social Security payments, pay attention because there’s about to be a policy change that could affect your money. It all has to do with overpayments, whether they’re your fault or not, and you could lose entire checks paying the administration back.
“I was shocked at first… this never happened before,” said Jeff Olds, 72, from Brunswick Hills. He said after 10 years of getting normal payments like a nearly $1600 amount last month, he just received a lump sum of more than $14,000 from Social Security.
“Can this happen to more people than me? At the same time?” Olds asked.
OVERPAYMENTS ADD UP
It can and does every year in the U.S. with overpayments to recipients adding up to tens of billions of dollars. Because of that, starting March 27 and forward, if you get an overpayment, Social Security will take 100% of your next checks until the extra funds are repaid. This is after last March when the policy was to take just 10% of each subsequent check even if the mistake was made by Social Security employees. “I don’t think that’s really fair to the person who’s counting on taking it gradually,” said Olds.
So, what should you do if you get a notice of overpayment, or like Olds, you see something way out of the ordinary? For those answers, we turned to a local Social Security expert who gave us some tips, including what you should not do.
LOCAL EXPERT WEIGHS IN
“A lot of people make the mistake of not doing anything,” said April Roberts, who is the CEO of AARIA Connect. She’s been a Social Security recipient advocate for nearly 20 years helping people navigate the complicated system.
“I’ve had clients come to me with stacks of paper, trying to figure it out on their own and they’ve contacted Social Security,” said Roberts. “They’ve tried to do their own due diligence.”
Roberts said when you see an overpayment or get a letter from Social Security, report it right away to your local office, you can file an appeal, and there’s a waiver option saying you don’t have the means to pay it all.
“Or please allow me to pay X-amount of my benefit check each month until this is satisfied,” said Roberts.
She also suggests writing down the name of each SSA employee you talk with or at least get a description of the person who’s helping you in-person. And get copies of all paperwork the SSA is keeping and get a red stamp “received” on them.
Roberts told us she can see where the administration is trying to collect on lazy people just not filing out the required paperwork, but she told us the vast majority of recipients don’t know they or Social Security made a mistake. Many are already going without necessities. “If that client now got stuck with 100%, they’re going to end up homeless,” said Roberts.
SSA RESPONDS
We called the Social Security Administration for an interview. Representatives instead gave us this statement:
“The Social Security Administration announced it will increase the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries to 100 percent of a person’s monthly benefit. The Office of the Chief Actuary estimates this change will result in an increase in overpayment recoveries (i.e., a program savings) of about $7 billion in the next decade.
The agency strives to pay the right person the right amount at the right time, and issues correct payments to most beneficiaries. When an overpayment does occur, the agency is required by law to seek repayment.
People who are overpaid after March 27 will automatically be placed in full recovery at a rate of 100 percent of the Social Security payment. If someone cannot afford full recovery of their overpayment, they can contact Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or their local office to request a lower rate of recovery.
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.
For more information, please refer to our publication at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10098.pdf.”
Olds said he didn’t have luck getting help on the phone, so we went to a nearby SSA office. The office manager said he will be in touch with Olds to help figure out what happened with his payment.
“What if a 100 people, 200 people got that kind of amount?” asked Olds. “That’s a lot of money out of the Social Security fund.”
We want to hear from you about your Social Security concerns. You can visit the News 5 “Social Insecurity” Facebook page and post there. You can also reach the News 5 Investigators by emailing InvestigatorTips@WEWS.com or calling 216.431.3721.
