Success in getting SSDI overpayment waived

In 1980, N.M. suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and lost her eyesight in a motorcycle accident. Because her disabilities kept her from working, she received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

In 1998, N.M. started her own business. Two years later, she went to work for a non-profit agency, where she is still employed.

N.M. reported all of her business and job activities to the Social Security Administration (SSA), but SSA continued to send her monthly SSDI checks until March of 2004. Several times during this period, N.M. contacted SSA, and was told that everything was fine and the SSDI checks were hers.

But then, in March 2004, N.M. received a notice from SSA informing her that her SSDI benefit had ended in December of 2000, and that SSA had overpaid her $47,000.00 in SSDI benefits.

Todd Higgins, the advocate under PAI’s Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI) program, agreed to represent N.M. at her Social Security administrative hearing. He found that she had, in fact, informed SSA of her work activities. Higgins further discovered that

  • SSA had begun a work continuing disability review (CDR) in May of 2001, just after N.M. returned to work;
  • The work CDR had not been completed because N.M.’s SSA claims representative had retired; and
  • N.M.’s SSA file was not assigned to another claims representative for over three years.

Higgins prepared a position statement and represented N.M. at her SSA hearing. The Administrative Law Judge found that N.M. was not at fault in creating any overpayment of her SSDI, and that it would be against good equity and conscience for SSA to collect any overpayment from her. He ruled that the entire overpayment was waived.