Success in getting SSDI overpayment waived

In February 2001 L.J. acquired a traumatic brain injury (TBI) while at work.  She was awarded Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in August 2001 as well as Workers’ Compensation benefits for work-related injuries.  L.J. informed Social Security repeatedly about all of the Workers’ Compensation benefits she received. In spite of her efforts, she received an overpayment notice from Social Security in September of 2005 informing her that because of her Workers’ Compensation payments, she now owed over $35,000 in SSDI benefits that had been paid to her. L.J. contacted PAI for assistance in dealing with this overpayment.

Todd Higgins, the Advocate under PAI’s Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI) program, agreed to represent L.J. at her Social Security administrative hearing.  He found that Social Security had not acted on the many attempts L.J. made to provide them with financial information that could impact her SSDI benefits.  For this reason, Higgins argued that L.J. was not at fault in creating the overpayment.  Further, because L.J. had gone to extraordinary efforts to inform Social Security of the information necessary for them to adjust her SSDI benefit, Higgins argued that it was against good equity and conscience for Social Security to collect any overpayment amount.  The Administrative Law Judge waived the entire overpayment, ruling that L.J. was not at fault in creating the overpayment of her SSDI and that it would be against good equity and conscience for Social Security to collect any overpayment from her.