Federal Law allows the Social Security Administration to recover overpayments made to claimants.
When an overpayment has been alleged, the claimant may request a waiver. To successfully secure a waiver of overpayment, a claimant must show that he or she was without fault in creating the overpayment and that requiring repayment would contravene the purpose of the Social Security Act or would be against “equity and good conscience.”
The Social Security Administration will not look kindly on overpayments created by misstatements of a claimant, failure to provide required documentation regarding earnings or disability status, or overpayments that should have been obvious to the recipient.