Noteboom The Law Firm

SSA Program Stopped Benefits by Mistake

Recently, the Social Security Administration was ordered to pay $500 million in benefits to about 80,000 people who had previously been denied their checks due to a mistake. Not only were their retirement, disability, or SSI benefits delayed, but they were also accidently labeled felons by the SSA.

You might wonder how, exactly, the SSA could deem anyone a felon accidently. The Fugitive Felon program was started in 1996. Its aim is to help catch fugitives while also taking away any right to receive Social Security benefits of any kind. It applies to anyone with an outstanding felony warrant or parole violation.

According to AARP, over 300,000 people were caught using this program by 2006. However, since the SSA was using a computer program to identify these so-called criminals, thousands of people who no longer even had a warrant out were sent letters telling them that their benefits were stopped. Some of the victims of this mistake included grandparents with simple misunderstandings in the past, as well as several people who either lived in a nursing home or were disabled.

The program may have good intentions, but so far it has seriously inconvenienced thousands of people due to computer errors. Many people could not get their benefits reinstated for some time, and some had to hire lawyers to get it straightened out. The money was finally paid out as a result of a suit by the National Senior Citizens Law Center.

Hopefully the settlement will suggest to the SSA that it is important to double-check before mailing out letters that let people know their benefits are being discontinued. Relying on a computer may save time, but it just inconvenienced 80,000 people, forcing many of them to pay for a lawyer before getting their rightful checks.

If you ever receive a letter from the SSA that warns of your payments being stopped, and you believe it is in error, talk to a lawyer who specializes in Social Security issues for the best chance of sorting out the problem.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida disability lawyers, LaVan & Neidenberg, represent over 5000 disability claimants. Our disability attorneys have experience with cross examining agency-appointed medical and vocational experts and take time when speaking with you about your disability claim. Call us today at 1-888-234-5758 for a FREE legal consultation. There is NO OBLIGATION to hire our firm and there are NO FEES unless one of our trained disability lawyers wins your case.