Do you know that Social Security can charge you SSA civil penalties and assessments if they think you mislead them into giving you money? If not, consider yourself lucky, because I can tell you as an experienced Social Security Disability attorney that it happens far too often.
The general idea behind the penalties and assessments isn’t a bad one. Social Security wants to punish those who are cheating the system so the money will be there for people who really need it. The problem with this however is that Social Security is a giant bureaucracy that makes mistakes all the time.
NOSSCR Example Case
Several months back, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR) published the details of an extreme version of a case like this. It breaks down like so:
- A woman received disability for a number of years.
- When she went back to work, she notified the SSA immediately.
- Her benefits stopped coming.
- Years later, her benefits mysteriously started up again.
- Again, she called Social Security and explained that she was working, but the benefits kept coming so she assumed she was supposed to get them.
- Finally, Social Security listened to her and set up a repayment plan.
- Several years later, she received a legal notification that she was being charged almost $40,000 in civil penalties and another $20,000 assessment.
Basically, she was being punished because it took the SSA so long to realize their own mistake—even after she repeatedly told them that it was a mistake!
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You Need a Professional to Navigate the SSA Minefield
Luckily, this woman was smart enough to find an experienced Social Security Disability attorney as soon as possible. Even with their combined efforts and plenty of evidence to back them up, it still took several phone calls and way too much of the woman’s precious time to resolve.
Every step of the way, the attorney provided documentation to show that the woman had done everything she was supposed to do, but still the SSA continued to fight. Finally, they spoke with someone who agreed to reduce the penalties but wouldn’t drop the case altogether, despite overwhelming evidence in the client’s favor.
The lawyer refused this offer, but noticed something during the conversation—the person they were speaking with didn’t seem to have knowledge of several documents they’d already sent. Acting quickly, they re-sent everything. Almost immediately, the person from SSA called back and dropped the case completely—no one had ever shown her the evidence! It just goes to show you how important it is to keep fighting and to know what you’re doing.
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