Staying Fit
Mistaken Social Security payments are rare, but with the Social Security Administration (SSA) delivering monthly benefits to nearly 71.9 million people, they do happen.
The SSA pays out more than $1 trillion a year in retirement benefits, survivor benefits and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). In the 2022 federal fiscal year, that included an estimated $13.6 billion in “improper payments,” according to a November 2023 report from the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General: $11.1 billion in overpayments and $2.5 billion in underpayments .
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If you believe you were either overpaid or underpaid by Social Security, tell the SSA as soon as possible. Failing to report the error in a timely way can lead to months of incorrect payments along with the eventual hassle of sorting it out.
Why Social Security payment errors happen
Incorrect payments occur for a variety of reasons:
- The SSA might be at fault — a computational error, or a failure to obtain or act on information relevant to a recipient's eligibility or benefit amount.
- A beneficiary might have neglected to notify Social Security of, or provided incorrect data about, a life event that can affect benefits, such as a change in income or a death in the family.
- Your case might not be finished. If a beneficiary appeals a loss or reduction of benefits, the SSA is required in some instances to keep paying the amount in question until the case is decided. If the appeal fails, then the beneficiary was getting the “wrong” amount during this time.
Mistakes are most prevalent in SSDI and, especially, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the other SSA-administered benefit that serves people with disabilities.
Eligibility for these programs is subject to strict limits on work activity and, in the case of SSI, ceilings on income and financial resources. Unreported or unidentified income and assets are leading causes of payment errors, according to Social Security.
In the 2023 fiscal year, SSI recipients were overpaid by an estimated $4.6 billion, accounting for 8 percent of total payments under the program, according to an SSA report to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
What to do if you've been overpaid
If Social Security paid you too much, you generally have to pay the money back. You will receive a notice explaining the error and outlining your options and rights.
More on Social Security
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Can Social Security payments be garnished?