Overpayments: What You Need to Know

We talk a lot about how important it is to report your wages each month to avoid overpayments from Social Security. But what is an overpayment?

An overpayment is when you receive more money than you should have received for one or more months. If this happens, Social Security will notify you by mail. They are required by law to adjust benefits or recover debts when they establish that someone received payments to which they are not entitled.

What should you do if you receive an overpayment notice?

Getting an overpayment notice may be unsettling or unclear, but Social Security will help you navigate the process. When you receive an overpayment notice, you should read the notice carefully. Each person’s situation is unique, so Social Security handles overpayments on a case-by-case basis. The notice will include the amount they overpaid you, the reason you were overpaid, and options to repay the overpayment, request an appeal or request a waiver.

If you would like to request an appeal or a waiver of your overpayment and have questions about it, you should contact Social Security. If you do not contact them within 60 days, they may begin reducing your monthly benefits payments to recover the overpayment.

What is an appeal?

An appeal is your opportunity to request a review of an overpayment decision. You can appeal an overpayment if you don’t agree that you’ve been overpaid or believe the overpayment amount is incorrect. The form you should use is SSA-561—U2-Request for Reconsideration. You have 60 days from the date you received the original overpayment notice to request an appeal. Social Security will assume you received this notice 5 days after the date on it, unless you show that you didn’t get it within the 5-day period. You must have a good reason for waiting more than 60 days to ask for an appeal.

What is a waiver?

A waiver is a request to excuse some or all of your overpayment. You can request that Social Security waive collection of the overpayment if you believe it was not your fault for causing the overpayment and you cannot afford to pay it back or think it is unfair for some other reason. You can do this by submitting form SSA-632-BK-Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery. There is no time limit for filing a waiver. If your overpayment is $1,000 or less, you can request a waiver by calling 1-800-772-1213 or your local Social Security office. They may be able to process your request quickly over the phone.

Are there repayment options?

Social Security examines every waiver request to determine if the person caused the debt and their ability to repay. If Social Security can’t waive the debt, they have flexible repayment options – including repayment amounts as low as $10 per month. You may request a lower repayment rate without requesting a waiver of recovery. You can do this by submitting form SSA-634-BK-Request for Change in Overpayment Recovery Rate.

Social Security just 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.

Learn More

Social Security's Ticket to Work (Ticket) Program supports career development for people ages 18 through 64 who receive SSDI or SSI due to their disability and want to work. The Ticket Program is free and voluntary. It helps people with disabilities move toward financial independence and connects them with the services and support they need to succeed in the workforce, including guidance about preventing overpayments.

To learn more about the Ticket Program, visit choosework.ssa.gov or call the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842. For callers who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability, call our TTY at 1-866-833-2967 (TTY), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. Ask for a list of Ask for a list of service providers or find providers on your own using the Ticket Program Find Help tool.

You can also learn more about the Ticket Program by registering for a free, online Work Incentives Seminar Event webinar. Or text TICKET to 1-571-489-5292 to receive Ticket Program texts. Standard messaging rates may apply, and you can opt out at any time.