If you get a Notice of Overpayment, there are four things you can do:
- Ask for reconsideration of the overpayment if you don’t think you were overpaid or you think the amount is wrong. It is important to ask for reconsideration quickly. Try to ask within 35 days of the date of the overpayment notice, if possible.
- Ask for a waiver if you agree that you were overpaid but you want to be excused from paying the money back.
- Ask for lower amounts to be taken out of your SSDI check by using the budget part of the waiver form to show your financial hardship.
- If Social Security terminates you from the SSDI program completely because you earned too much money but you now are so disabled that you can only work couple of hours at minimum wage, or you can’t work at all, ask for Expedited Reinstatement. Expedited reinstatement means you will get up to six months of SSDI while Social Security decides if you are still disabled.
You must ask for reconsideration within 65 days of the date on the notice. If you ask within 35 days of the date of the overpayment notice, Social Security won’t take money out of your SSDI check while they are making a decision on your reconsideration request. If you ask within 65 days from the date on the notice, Social Security should stop taking money out of your check while they are making a decision on your request.
If you have a good reason for asking for reconsideration after 65 days, explain your reasons to Social Security and send in the form late with your reasons on it.
You can ask for a waiver at any time. Asking for a waiver will also stop Social Security from taking money out of your SSDI check while they are making a decision on your waiver request. You may want to wait to ask for a waiver until you find out if your reconsideration is denied.