A FORMER Social Security employee found himself mistreated by the very system he once worked for, entangled in a costly mistake despite doing nothing wrong.
The retiree endured a back-and-forth nightmare with the government agency, including the unwarranted withholding of over $5,500.
A retiree from Louisiana was left frustrated after the Social Security Administration’s mistake left him in the dark (Getty) The Social Security recipient faced a back-and-forth nightmare with the agency to sort out his situation (Getty)Keith, a resident of Pineville, Louisiana – around 125 miles from Baton Rouge – worked for the Social Security Administration for 31 years before retiring in December 2021.
Keith was slated to begin receiving his Social Security retirement benefits in January 2022, but was faced with repeated miscommunications, delays, and conflicting notices.
“In mid-January 2022 I got a notice from the SSA telling me that they were unable to pay me for January because I had worked and earned wages during the month. Therefore my first payment would be in February,” the former SSA employee shared with The U.S. Sun.
Despite the administration’s mistake, Keith received yet another notice around six weeks later informing him that he would not receive his February retirement payments either for the same reason.
The retiree was hit with yet another notice in April that the administration would withhold over $5,500 from his retirement benefits on the false premise that he worked in 2022 and “made too much money.”
Keith then attempted to amend the situation by filing a Request forReconsideration, explaining to the SSA that he had not worked in 2022 and he had no plans to work that year.
He did not hear back from the administration for months, until he finally received a notice in August stating that the SSA would soon start withholding money from his retirement benefits due to overpayment.
“Then about a week later I got another notice saying that they would not withhold and that they were refunding me for January and February. Of course I thought at that time that the matter was settled,” recounted Keith.
The former SSA employee proceeded to receive his normal retirement payments through June 2023, under the impression that his Social Security frustrations were finally over.
“However, in June 2023 I received a Notice of Overpaymentfrom the SSA stating that they had overpaid me over $5,500 inretirement benefits for 2022, and reiterating all the reasons setforth above,” said Keith.
The former SSA employer quickly filed a second Request forReconsideration along with a request for a waiver of theoverpayment.
Despite his attempts to resolve the Social Security nightmare, the administration failed to reach out to Keith and instead went ahead and withheld money from his retirement benefits for August, September and October 2023.
“Fast forward to late fall 2024,” continued Keith. “My appeal had been pending since July 2023, but I had been unable to get anyone at the SSA to give me a status update on if or when the appeal would be decided and I’d get my money back.”
ESCALATION EFFORTS
The retiree was fed up with the back-and-forth nature of the situation, taking even more initiative and visiting his local Social Security district office multiple times.
Each time he spoke to SSA representatives, who confirmed they had received Keith’s appeal and provided him with the phone numbers of employees who were allegedly working on his case.
“Yet no one answered the phone numbers when I called, nor returned my left messages,” he said.
The frustrated retiree escalated the situation even further and sought help from Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy, but was disappointed when the SSA initially failed to cooperate with the senator’s aide assigned to his case.
Filing a waiver with the SSA
Those who cannot afford to pay back the overpayment amounts noted by the SSA or feel they should not have to can file a specific form.
The form is identified as SSA-632 on the SSA website and can be filled out and submitted at a local office. “If you agree that you have been overpaid, but you feel you should not have to pay it back because you did not cause the overpayment and you cannot afford to repay it, you should file Form SSA-632,” the SSA notes on its website. It also lists multiple repayment options. Recipients with additional questions are urged to call 1-800-772-1213.“As a former SSA employee, I am well aware of their work backlogs and chronic staff shortages. I figured they’d get to my claim eventually, but I was more or less interested in trying to make sure they hadn’t lost my appeal or forgotten about me in some way… which I knew from first-hand experience often occurs at the agency,” said Keith.
The senator’s aide continuously pestered the district office about Keith’s case, and the Louisiana resident finally received a call from a technical expert at the local office in December 2024.
“He explained to me that my claim had been mistakenly sent to a Payment Center and had been sitting there for over a year waiting for someone to look at it,” said Keith.
“He told me it never should have been sent there, but rather should have been handled by the folks at the district office when it initially came in.”
The technical expert assured him that the benefits owed to him would be sent over promptly, and less than a week later, the money was in Keith’s bank account.
As a former SSA employee, I am well aware of their work backlogs and chronic staff shortages. I figured they’d get to my claim eventually, but I was more or less interested in trying to make sure they hadn’t lost my appeal or forgotten about me in some way… which I knew from first-hand experience often occurs at the agency.”
KeithSocial Security Beneficiary“I told him I hoped the matter was fixed permanently so I wouldn’t be dunned again!”
Check out these other stories from The U.S. Sun on Americans let down by the SSA.
A man with autism, 32, left “devastated” as Social Security forced him to pay back $35,000 – and his family tried appealing five times.
Plus, a veteran endured a Social Security “nightmare” waiting years for payments after being told staff “lied” about a crucial date.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Ex-Social Security worker scrambling after SSA mistake withholds $5.5k in retirement benefits – he did nothing wrong )
Also on site :