1. What is a Title II or Title XVI Overpayment under the Social Security Act?

An Overpayment occurs when a beneficiary receives more benefits than the amount they are entitled to, in any given month.1 Overpayments can occur in both Title II Retirement, Survivors, and Social Security Disability Insurance cases, as well as in Title XVI Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit scenarios.

2. What Can I Do if the Social Security Administration (SSA) Says I Have an Overpayment and I Think SSA Is Wrong?

If SSA says you have an Overpayment, you have a right to make a Request for Reconsideration which is SSA’s term for filing an appeal. See questions 10, 12, and 18 below. Another option is to ask for a Waiver of the Overpayment. See questions 13-18 and 22-26 below.

3. What Can Cause an Overpayment?

There are several ways that Overpayments can happen. Overpayments can happen because someone did not report information that they must report to SSA. Even when a person reports everything to SSA that they are supposed to, SSA still fails to make the adjustments needed to monthly payments, resulting in Overpayments. See questions 4 and 5 for more information about reporting.

4. What Do I Have to Report to Reduce the Chance of an Overpayment?

You must report certain events that can affect the amount of your SSI or SSDI benefits, or your continuing eligibility for these, within the first 10 days of the month after the change occurs.2 It takes SSA one month from the date you report before it uses the information to adjust your monthly benefit amount. For example, a change of income in January, which you report by February 10th, is supposed to be reflected in your March check. If SSA does not get the information in time, it cannot adjust your check, and you may incur an Overpayment.

You must report:3

1. All earned and unearned income;
2. Changes in earned and unearned income;
3. A change in your living situation, such as a change of address or a change in the make-up of your household;
4. A change in your resources;
5. Divorce, marriage, or separation;
6. Eligibility for other benefits; or,
7. Leaving the United States temporarily (for 30 or more consecutive days), among other reportable events listed in 20 C.F.R. Section 416.708.

Failure to report these events means that your SSI or SSDI benefit amount will be based on missing or wrong information. If SSA later finds out about the missing or incorrect information, it may adjust your payments, even if it has already paid you. Any payments that were more than what you were entitled to, will be calculated as an Overpayment. The SSA will then issue a notice of Overpayment. It is important to know that you can receive an Overpayment notice at any time. If you told SSA about changes and SSA still says you were overpaid, see questions 13-18 and 22-26 below about requesting a Waiver.

5. Why is SSA Charging Me with an Overpayment Even Though I Reported Changes Timely?

Sometimes people report relevant changes timely, but SSA still fails to do a re-calculation of benefits and Overpayments happen. For example, some people report changes to their earned income when they go back to work, yet SSA fails to make changes to their monthly benefit amounts. Often recipients don’t realize that they are being overpaid until they get a notice from SSA months or years later. In this situation, although the recipient is overpaid, it is through no fault of their own. A Waiver may be the best option in this situation. See questions 13-18 and 22-26.

6. Who Must Pay Back an Overpayment?

SSA may find the following people are responsible for paying back an Overpayment:4

1. You, the person who gets SSI or SSDI;
2. Your Representative Payee (Rep. Payee). For more information, see question 7;
3. Under certain circumstances, your sponsor, if you are an alien receiving SSI or SSDI5;
4. Your spouse if during the period of the Overpayment you were living together and SSA can’t recover from you6; or,
5. Your estate and/or the estate of your Rep. Payee, spouse, or sponsor.7

7. When Can My Rep. Payee Be Personally Liable for an Overpayment?

If the overpaid amount was misused by your Rep. Payee, SSA can seek the Overpayment from your Rep. Payee directly. In other words, your Rep. Payee will be personally liable for the Overpayment.8 If the funds were not used for your support or maintenance, then your Rep. Payee will be solely responsible for the Overpayment, even if they didn’t know about the Overpayment.9

If the SSI or SSDI payments were used for your support and maintenance and your Rep. Payee knew or should have known of the Overpayment, then you and your Rep. Payee will both be responsible for the Overpayment.10 However, if the SSI/SSDI payments were used for your support and maintenance, and your Rep. Payee did not know about the facts surrounding the Overpayment, then you are responsible for the Overpayment.11

8. Will SSA Give Me a Notice of Overpayment?

Yes. You have a right to receive a written notice if SSA thinks you have an Overpayment. The notice must include the following information:12

1. Why there is an Overpayment;
2. The amount of the Overpayment;
3. The month(s) in which the Overpayment occurred;
4. A list outlining what amounts were paid and what should have been paid;
5. The rate of adjustment to your SSI/SSDI check if you do not pay in full and continue to receive SSI/SSDI;
6. Your right to ask for a Waiver and/or submit an appeal (Request for Reconsideration); and,
7. How to ask for a Waiver and/or a Request for Reconsideration (Appeal).

A notice will also be sent to your Rep. Payee and/or your legal representative or advocate if they have a SSA 1696 Authorized Representative Form13 on file with the SSA Field Office that serves you.

If a letter or a person from SSA tells you that you have an Overpayment, but you did not get an Overpayment notice, ask SSA to send you one.

9. What Will Happen to My SSI or SSDI If I Have an Overpayment?

SSA made helpful, broad changes to its Overpayment policies in 2024. These included changes to the maximum amount that SSA can take from a person’s SSDI benefits if they do not respond within 60 days to an Overpayment notice. Based on these 2024 changes, in that situation, SSA could only withhold 10% of a person’s monthly SSDI to recoup an Overpayment.14

However, on April 25, 2025, SSA issued an Emergency Message titled “Change to Title II Overpayment Default Benefit Withholding Rate to 50 Percent Withholding.” This Emergency Message states SSA will withhold 50% of a recipient’s SSDI if they do not respond to SSA’s notice of Overpayment within 90 days, and this applies to all notices issued after April 25, 2025.15

Regarding SSI, if an individual does not respond to a notice of Overpayment within 60 days, then SSA may take up to 10% of their monthly benefit, up to $96.70 in 2025.16

You can always ask SSA to take a different amount. For example, you can ask SSA if you can pay back $10 per month if that’s all you can afford.17

10. Can I Appeal an Overpayment and Stop Reductions from Happening?

Yes. To keep getting your SSI/SSDI without any changes, you must send in your Request for Reconsideration (Appeal) within 10 days of getting the notice of Overpayment.18

SSA assumes you got the notice no later than five days after the date on the notice. For example, if your notice is dated January 1st, SSA will assume you got it by January 6th. In this example, the Request for Reconsideration would be due to SSA by January 16th. If you appeal within 10 days, SSA will not reduce your benefit amount until a final decision is made. This is called aid paid pending and it is your due process right.19

According to POMS SI 02301.310, effective 12/10/2024, “Recipients who appeal 11 or more days after, but within 60 days of receiving the advance notice [of Overpayment] may experience a reduction in payment but will be reinstated to payment at the [Protected Payment Level] PPL.”20 The Protected Payment Level is the “unreduced benefit amount that a recipient may continue to receive until there is a decision at the first level of appeal."21

If you experience a situation that makes it so that you are unable to submit your appeal for aid paid pending within the 60-day window, you may still obtain payment continuation if SSA finds there was good cause for you to file late. See question 12 below for more on Good Cause.

11. What Can I Do to Advocate Against or Address SSA’s Notice of Overpayment?

There are generally six different ways to deal with an Overpayment:

1. Appeal (SSA calls this a Request for Reconsideration);
2. File for a Waiver of Overpayment Recovery (Waiver);
3. Appeal and file for a Waiver at the same time;
4. Negotiate a Compromised Payment (see question 19)
5. Do nothing; or,
6. Declare bankruptcy.

Each action, except doing nothing, is explained in more detail below.

12. When Does it Make Sense for Me to Appeal?

File an appeal if:22

1. The Overpayment notice has your income wrong;
2. The Overpayment notice has your benefit amount wrong;
3. You do not believe you owe as much as SSA says you owe;
4. You believe you were not overpaid; and/or,
5. You are not responsible for repayment.23

If the facts in SSA’s notice are incorrect, then you should appeal. You can also ask for an “informal conference” to meet with someone from your SSA Field Office to go over the Overpayment with you.24

There are several different ways to Request Reconsideration: (1) via a phone call to SSA, (2) via submitting--by email, fax, or drop off: a written statement on SSA’s form SSA-561-U2 (02_2025) (or typed/written on paper) that states you wish to appeal because you do not agree with the Overpayment notice (include the date of the notice) and/or you do not agree with SSA’s facts in the notice.

Click here to appeal online via the online Request for Reconsideration

If you miss the 60-day deadline to appeal, you may still appeal if you have “good cause.”25 Good cause exists, for example, if being seriously ill or having a death in your family were the reason you could not appeal within 60 days.26

13. What is a Waiver, and When Does it Make Sense for Me to File a Waiver?

A Waiver is you telling SSA, while an Overpayment may exist, it is not my fault, and I should not be required to pay it back. You will not have to pay back an Overpayment if SSA grants your Waiver request.27 If SSA cannot approve your Waiver request, they must hold a personal conference with you. At the conference, you and SSA will talk about the Overpayment and the information in your case file. If SSA denies the Waiver after your conference, you can appeal that denial.28

When asking for a Waiver, generally, you must show that the Overpayment was not your fault and that one of these applies:29

1. It would be a financial hardship to pay the money back because you need the money to meet your ordinary living expenses. Be ready to submit bills to show that your monthly expenses use up all your income;30
2. If you are still receiving SSI or SSDI, repayment would defeat the point of these programs which exist to help people with disabilities pay for basic needs like food, clothing, and rent;31
3. Repayment would be “against equity and good conscience,” for example, where you relied on your SSI payment which was later found to be incorrect, and gave up a valuable right or changed your position for the worse because of this;32
4. If you had excess resources of $50 or less, including deemed resources, and this is the sole cause of the Overpayment, your Waiver request will be approved unless you knowingly or willfully failed to report your resources or the value of your resources timely or accurately;33 or,
5. The amount of the Overpayment is $1000.01 or less, and this can be used for each individual Overpayment period.34

You can ask for a Waiver for any part of an Overpayment. For instance, if you did not report a change within the first 10 days of the month following a change in your income, but did report before the end of the month, you could ask for a Waiver of at least part of any Overpayment incurred.35

You can get a Request for Waiver Form by going to the SSA office, calling SSA and asking them to mail you one, or from the SSA website.

14. What is the Time Limit for Requesting a Waiver?

There is no time limit for requesting a Waiver. You can ask for a Waiver at any time. You can even request a Waiver after you pay off an Overpayment.36 After you file a request for Waiver, SSA will review your request and either make a favorable decision or hold a personal conference with you if it cannot make a favorable decision.37

15. If I File a Waiver, How Will SSA Decide Whether I Am Without Fault?

SSA will consider whether you are “without fault” by looking at whether you:38

1. Understood the obligation to return payments which you should not have received;
2. Understood that you had an Overpayment at the time it occurred;
3. Understood SSA’s reporting requirements. SSA will look at your reading ability, level of education, whether English is your second language, or whether you have a disability that makes it difficult to understand things;
4. Agreed to report events affecting your benefit amount or eligibility;
5. Were aware of events that should have been reported;
6. Attempted to comply with reporting requirements;
7. Complied with the reporting requirements;
8. Had the ability and opportunity to comply with reporting requirements;
9. Received incorrect or misleading information from an official source such as an SSA employee or publication; and/or,
10. Were aware of the need to report an event but believed it to be so insignificant that you thought it would not have any material effect on your benefit amount or eligibility.

NOTE: If SSA cannot substantiate and document the cause of the Overpayment, or cannot give you a full explanation of the facts about the Overpayment it says you owe, you will automatically be found to be without fault.39

16. Under What Circumstances May SSA Deny a Request for Waiver Because It Decides I Am At Fault?

You may be found “at fault” in connection with an Overpayment when an incorrect payment resulted from one of the following:40

1. You did not give SSA information that you should have given. For example, you did not report the information listed above in question 4;
2. You knew you gave SSA incorrect information;
3. You received and cashed duplicate checks;
4. You’ve had similar Overpayments in the past; or,
5. You received a conditional payment and did not comply. For example, if you were awarded presumptive disability benefits, but were later found ineligible, you will need to pay the presumptive disability benefits back, or you will incur an Overpayment.

Fault or knowledge of another cannot be charged to the person asking for the Waiver. For example, in the case of a child receiving SSI, the failure of their parent to report an event that can affect their SSI benefit amount or eligibility cannot be imposed on the child. The child will be without fault. This does not mean that the parent, as Rep. Payee, is without fault and not responsible for repayment.41

17. If I File a Waiver, How Will SSA Decide Whether It Would be a Hardship for Me to Pay Back the Overpayment

If you are getting SSI, then SSA automatically considers it a hardship for you to have to repay an Overpayment. If you no longer get SSI, you will need to show that you cannot afford to repay the Overpayment, based on your income and expenses. We recommend that you attach all documents you think will support your position to the Request for Waiver form like bills, bank statements, or letters from SSA. However, you do not need to attach these or complete certain questions about your income and expenses if you are still receiving SSI, because hardship is presumed.42

If you are denied a Waiver because SSA says it would not be a hardship to pay back the Overpayment and you have a change in circumstances (your financial situation gets worse) you may be able to show that it would be a hardship to repay the Overpayment based on changed circumstances.

18. Under What Circumstances Does it Make Sense for Me to File A Request for Reconsideration (Appeal) and for a Waiver at the same time?

If you are not sure what to do, appeal within 60 days and ask for a Waiver at the same time.

19. What is a Compromised Payment?

You can offer to pay SSA a lesser amount than the total owed as payment in full.43 Factors SSA will consider include:

1. Your ability to pay the entire debt;
2. The possibility of adjustment now or in the future;
3. The amount of your offer versus what you owe;
4. Other compromised settlements you’ve had and the circumstances surrounding those; and,
5. The cost to SSA of taking you to court to recover the Overpayment.

20. Can I File for Bankruptcy to Discharge a SSI Overpayment?

Yes. You can petition the bankruptcy court to include a SSI Overpayment as an unsecured debt which can be discharged.44

21. How Can I Avoid an Overpayment in the Future?

1. Report all changes in your life that can affect the amount of the Social Security benefits you receive or your eligibility. It is best to report changes to SSA in writing and keep a copy of what you mail or drop off at the SSA Field Office. On your copy, write down when you put it in the mail. If you report by telephone, write down the date, time, telephone number you called, and the name of the person you talked to.
2. Do not spend money you receive from SSA if you suspect you should not have received it. Instead, report it to SSA. If SSA refuses to give you a written response resolving your concern, contact your U.S. Senator or Member of the House of Representatives and ask them for help.
3. Become knowledgeable about the SSA rules for In-Kind Support and Maintenance (ISM) and how this “income” can affect your benefit amount or eligibility. Please see DRC’s publication regarding SSA’s rules on In-kind Support and Maintenance.

22. What Recent Changes did SSA make to SSI and SSDI Overpayments?

SSA made helpful, broad changes to its Overpayment policies in 2024. For example, there are now administrative Waivers allowed on Overpayments up to $2,000;45 and, SSA has also implemented a longer recovery period of 60 months to make payments less burdensome on people with disabilities.46

23. What rules did SSA add in 2024 to determine presumptions of “not at fault” for Overpayment Waivers?

The first step SSA takes on every request that an Overpayment be waived is to determine whether the individual was “at fault” in causing the Overpayment. The old standard placed the burden on the beneficiary to prove they were “blameless” in causing an Overpayment. SSA has now shifted the assessment of fault to be more neutral, balanced, and fair, with many more examples of situations where there are presumptions of “not at fault,” set out it in SSA’s rules. These presumptions apply to Title II and Title XVI Overpayments.47

SSA applies a presumption of “not at fault” in situations where: (1) you reported changes timely, (2) SSA continued to pay you benefits even after you timely reported changes, (3) you incurred an Overpayment due to earnings (Title II only);48 or, (4) you incurred an Overpayment due to misinformation from an official source.

SSA can find an individual at fault only after it has evidence that the Overpayment occurred because the individual:

1. Made an incorrect statement they knew or should have known was incorrect;
2. Failed to furnish information that they knew or should have known was material; or,
3. Accepted payments that they knew or should have known were incorrect.

Unless SSA has evidence that one of these has occurred, the individual is not at fault.49

If the individual is not at fault, SSA will determine if it can approve the Waiver under one of the following provisions:

1. Denying the Waiver would defeat the purpose of the SSI or SSDI Program;50 or,
2. It would be against equity and good conscience to deny the Waiver. (POMS GN 02250.150).

24. What new rules did SSA add in 2024 to the “Defeat the Purpose of the program” standard for granting Waivers?

SSA will determine that it would defeat the purpose of the SSI or SSDI program to grant a Waiver, if recovering the Overpayment would deprive the overpaid individual of the income and resources required for ordinary and necessary living expenses. The means that after you pay all of your bills in a month, your income left over is not more than $250. For this to apply, an individual cannot have more than $6,000 in resources. However, CalABLE Accounts are generally exempt from this resource limit.51

SSA will find it defeats the purpose of the SSI or SSDI program, and thus waive the Overpayment, if the overpaid individual or any household member of that individual receives needs-based assistance. Examples of needs-based assistance include: SSI; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Veterans Affairs service and non-service-related disability pensions based on need; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); Medicare Part D Extra Help Program (Low-Income Subsidy); or, the total household income is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level and the household has limited resources.52

25. What rules did SSA add in 2024 regarding the “against equity and good conscience” standard for Waivers?

SSA will find it is “against equity and good conscience” to deny a request for Waiver of Overpayment where an individual relied on a notice of payment or relied on the incorrect payment itself, and their financial position changed for the worse, or they relinquished a valuable right, because of this.

Also, SSA will now deem it to be against equity and good conscience to deny a request for Waiver of Overpayment where one of the following applies:

1. SSA is unable to locate documents or determine the cause of the Overpayment;53
2. The overpaid individual relied on misinformation from an official source;54
3. The overpaid individual reasonably believed SSA counted net earnings rather than gross earnings;55 or,
4. Other situations listed in POMS GN 02250.150.

26. What is the Campos v. Kijakazi Settlement and how does it affect Overpayments?

The court-approved national class action settlement in Campos v. Kijakazi—a case coming out of the Eastern District of New York, should benefit more than two million SSI recipients across the United States who incurred Overpayments during the COVID-19 National Emergency (March to September 2020).56

Per this settlement, SSA is supposed to waive all SSI overpayments incurred for the months of March to September 2020 that were manually processed. This means, SSA should waive all overpayments for those months except those Overpayments identified through an automated process such as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ data matching.

SSA should grant these waivers without SSI recipients having to take any steps or submit any application or other paperwork.

SSA should send eligible individuals a notice informing them about the Waiver. Per this settlement agreement, an underpayment for any payments you have already made on an Overpayment incurred from March to September 2020 should be issued, and this should be done without the SSI recipient having to do anything.

For more information, please see these links to SSA’s “Notice of Final Settlement In the Campos Case” and SSA’s Emergency Directive on How to Handle Campos Cases dated February 6, 2025.

• 1. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.537(a); 20 C.F.R Section 416.538(a)
• 2. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.708; 20 C.F R. Section 416.714
• 3. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.708
• 4. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.570; POMS SI 02201.020 B.1
• 5. 42 U.S.C. Section 1382j(e); POMS SI 02201.005.F
• 6. 42 U.S.C. Section 1383(b); POMS SI 02201.005.F
• 7. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.537(a); POMS SI 02201.005.F
• 8. POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.c, d
• 9. POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.b
• 10. POMS SI 02201.005.G.2
• 11. POMS SI 02201.005.G.2.a
• 12. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.558; POMS SI 02201.025
• 13. SSA’s Form: SSA-1696 (12-2024)
• 14. POMS GN 02210.030
• 15. SSA Emergency Message: Change to Title II Overpayment Default Benefit Withholding Rate to 50 Percent Withholding, April 25, 2025
• 16. See POMS SI 02220.016
• 17. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.571
• 18. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.1336(b)
• 19. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970); POMS SI 02301.310
• 20. POMS SI 02301.310; POMS SI 02301.313
• 21. POMS SI 02301.300
• 22. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.1408
• 23. POMS SI 02201.005
• 24. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.1413
• 25. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.1411; 20 C.F.R. Section 404.911
• 26. POMS GN 03101.020
• 27. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.551
• 28. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.557
• 29. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.550
• 30. 42 U.S.C. Section 1383(b); 20 C.F.R. Section 416.553
• 31. Id.
• 32. 42 U.S.C. Section 1383(b); 20 C.F.R. Section 416.554
• 33. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.556; POMS SI 02260.025.C.2; SI 02260.035
• 34. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.555; POMS SI 02260.030
• 35. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.551
• 36. POMS SI 02260.001.A.3
• 37. 20 C.F.R Section 416.557
• 38. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.552
• 39. POMS SI 02260.015.B.1.b
• 40. Id.
• 41. POMS SI 02260.010.B.3
• 42. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.553
• 43. 20 C.F.R. Section 416.571
• 44. POMS SI 02220.040; POMS GN 02215.185; POMS SI 02220.040
• 45. POMS GN 02250.350
• 46. POMS GN 02210.030
• 47. POMS GN 02250.350
• 48. POMS GN 02250.025
• 49. See POMS GN 02250.005
• 50. POMS GN 02250.110; POMS GN 02250.100
• 51. See POMS GN 02250.100
• 52. POMS GN 02250.110
• 53. POMS GN 02250.011
• 54. POMS GN 02250.061
• 55. POMS GN 02250.025B.5
• 56. Campos, et al. v. Kijakazi, No. 21 Civ. 5143 (E.D.N.Y.)(June 2023)