Social Security Overpayment: Appeal, Waiver or Repayment Plan?

Appeal if the overpayment is wrong, ask for a waiver if it is right but wasn't your fault and repaying would leave you short, and set up repayment when you owe it and neither of those fits. File the appeal (Form SSA-561) or the waiver request (Form SSA-632) within 30 days of the date on the notice and SSA collects nothing until it decides; let the 30 days pass without filing and SSA withholds 50% of each Social Security or SSDI check, or 10% of SSI, until the debt is paid. Today, write down the notice date, compare its month-by-month chart with your own records, and pick your form.

Which request fits your notice

• Appeal (reconsideration), Form SSA-561. Use it when SSA has the facts wrong: you did report the job, wages landed in the wrong months, the income figure is off, or you never got the money the notice lists. You have 60 days from the day you receive the notice, and SSA treats it as received 5 days after the date printed on it. File online through the non-medical appeal, or mail, fax or bring the SSA-561 to your local office.
• Waiver, Form SSA-632-BK. Use it when the amount is right, you were without fault, and repaying would leave you unable to cover ordinary living costs or would be unfair for another reason. You can ask at any time, even after withholding starts or the debt is paid off. Overpaid $2,000 or less in total on the notice? SSA presumes you were not at fault and waives it without looking at your finances, unless fraud, similar fault or a cashed duplicate check is involved. One call to 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) asks for it, and an appeal of an overpayment that size counts as a waiver request too. The original amount on the notice counts, not a balance you paid down.
• Lower withholding or a payment plan, Form SSA-634. Use it when you owe the money and the default withholding leaves you short. Social Security and SSDI withholding can go as low as $10 a month. If you no longer get benefits, pay at Pay.gov with the Remittance ID from the payment page of your letter, or call 1-855-807-8807 (weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time) to set up a plan or ask about settling the debt.

Think the amount is wrong and also that it wasn't your fault? Send the SSA-561 and the SSA-632 together. SSA decides the appeal first; if an overpayment remains, it then decides the waiver.

The deadlines and how much SSA takes

SSA waits at least 30 days after the notice before collecting, and with a request filed in that window, withholding never starts until SSA decides. An appeal filed later but before the appeal deadline, or a waiver request filed at any point, stops withholding from the month SSA gets it.

Once the 30 days pass without a request, withholding starts automatically:

• Social Security and SSDI: 50% of your monthly benefit. On a $1,600 check, that is $800 a month.
• SSI: 10% of your total monthly income (countable income plus your SSI and any state supplement), and never more than the payment itself. With the 2026 federal rate of $994 and no other income, that is $99.40; the rate rises to $1,029 in January 2027, which puts it at $102.90.

If you are off benefits, SSA asks for the full amount within 30 days and can take a federal tax refund, certain state payments or part of your wages. It can also collect a Social Security overpayment from your SSI, or an SSI overpayment from your Social Security, once you no longer get the program that overpaid you.

What "without fault" and "can't afford" mean to SSA

SSA finds you at fault when the overpayment came from one of three things: a statement you knew or should have known was wrong, a change you knew or should have known mattered and left unreported, or a payment you kept when you knew or should have known it was too much. An SSA mistake still leaves you responsible if one of those three applies. SSA weighs your age, health, education and English when it judges what you should have known, so explain any that affected your reporting.

Can't afford means you need substantially all of your current income for ordinary living costs: rent or mortgage, food, utilities, insurance, medical bills and support for anyone you are legally responsible for. Attach recent bank statements, pay stubs and your rent or mortgage statement, all dated within the last 3 months. If you or a dependent in your household gets SSI, TANF, a needs-based VA pension, SNAP or Medicare Part D Extra Help, check that box on the SSA-632, sign, attach proof of any TANF, VA pension or SNAP, and skip the financial pages.

Unfair covers two situations. You relied on the payments and changed your position for the worse or gave up a valuable right, such as quitting a job or signing a lease the benefit covered. Or you lived apart from the overpaid person and never received the money. Your finances play no part in this test.

Before SSA denies a waiver on the paperwork, it schedules a file review at least 5 days before a personal conference, held in person, by phone or by video, where you can bring documents, witnesses and a representative. If the waiver is denied after that, withholding starts even while you appeal the denial.

What to do today

1. Find the date printed on the notice. Write down that date plus 30 days (the collection-free window) and plus 65 days (the appeal deadline).
2. Line up the notice's chart of what SSA paid and what it should have paid, month by month, against your pay stubs, bank deposits and any record of when you reported the change, such as a letter or a dated note of your call.
3. Choose: SSA-561 if the facts are wrong, SSA-632-BK if they are right and you meet the waiver test, both if you have both arguments, SSA-634 if you owe it and need smaller payments.
4. Send it. File the appeal online, upload the SSA-632 or the SSA-634 through my Social Security, or fax, mail or bring the form to the office in the SSA office locator. Keep a copy and note the date and how you sent it.
5. If money comes out after you filed, call 1-800-772-1213 with your filing date and ask SSA to stop recovery.

SSI and SSDI rules that differ

If the same notice also cuts your monthly SSI payment, appeal within 10 days of receiving it to keep the old amount; from day 11 to day 60 the cut can show up until SSA enters your appeal, and then the old amount comes back.

On SSI, an appeal filed within 60 days of the notice also gets back what SSA withheld from the month you filed. The can't-afford test is easier too: you meet it while you still get SSI and your income stays within the federal rate plus the $20 and earned-income exclusions and any state supplement. On Social Security, SSDI and retirement, SSA weighs your income against your bills.

If work caused the overpayment, check the months against the SSDI trial work period or how SSI counts self-employment income before you appeal.

Where it splits

• If more than 65 days have passed, send the SSA-561 with a written reason for the delay, such as a serious illness, a death in the family, or a notice that never reached you. SSA accepts a late appeal with good cause. The waiver has no deadline.
• If you are unsure why you were overpaid, ask the office to show you your file and explain the calculation, then file both the appeal and the waiver.
• If SSA says the overpayment involved fraud or similar fault, the waiver and the lower rate are off the table and SSA withholds in full. Get a representative before you respond.
• If you filed for bankruptcy and listed SSA, the court notifies SSA, and SSA usually stops collecting until the petition is resolved.

What you can win

• A reversed appeal erases the overpayment.
• An approved waiver ends collection, and SSA can refund what it already withheld.
• A denied appeal gives you 60 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. Withholding resumes while the hearing is pending, so pair it with a waiver or an SSA-634 if the amount hurts.
• An attorney or other representative can join you at the personal conference. Hire one if SSA alleges fraud or similar fault, or if the waiver is denied after the conference and the balance runs to five figures.

Letter to send with your form

Re: Overpayment notice dated [date]. Name: [your name]. Social Security number: [number]. Claim number: [if different].

I am requesting [reconsideration of the overpayment / waiver of recovery / both]. [Your reason, for example: I reported my job to your office on [date] by [phone or visit], and the notice counts wages in months I had no earnings.] Please stop all withholding while my request is pending. Enclosed: [SSA-561 / SSA-632-BK / SSA-634 and supporting documents]. Please send me written confirmation that you received this request.

[Signature] [Printed name] [Phone] [Date]

Today: mark your 30-day and 65-day dates, pull your records for the months on the chart, and send the form that fits. SSA answers by mail; if your waiver needs a conference, the next letter sets the date of your file review and personal conference.