Information on Supplemental Security Income Overpayments

You are eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits if you are a disabled worker who has limited income and limited resources. Not only will you receive monetary benefits, but also medical assistance through Medicaid and other benefits.

However, there is a time during your current disability that you receive SSI payments from the Social Security Administration (SSA) wherein you get more than what you are supposed to get. This is called an overpayment. It is the difference of the payment you receive and the real amount you’ll be getting for that month.

SSI overpayments happen because of various factors. One factor is your failure to inform your local SSA office of any changes in your living arrangements and other personal and family-related matters that may affect the amount of your payment. Another factor is your failure to provide complete information necessary to determine the amount of your SSI monthly payment.

The SSA will know of your overpayment by sending you a notice telling you to provide a full refund within 30 days. If you don’t provide a full refund, the SSA will withhold your overpayment at 10 percent rate coming from your income. They will also tell you to appeal for it, or have the overpayment assessed and waived.

If you think that you do not have anything to do with your overpayment and that you are not anymore able to refund it back, you can request for waiver of overpayment recovery. You will be completing SSA-632-BK, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery or Change in Repayment Rate.

If you think that the payment you receive is the right amount and that you are not overpaid, you can request for a reconsideration. In contrast to the previous form for request of waiver, you need to instead fill-up and submit SSA-561-U2, Request for Reconsideration form.