Effective Dates: 11/20/2015 - Present Previous | Next

TN 18 (05-20)

GN 03910.025 Authority of Appointed Representatives

A. Scope of authority of appointed representatives

An appointed representative can act on the claimant's behalf with us on a pending claim, matter, or issue from the time the appointment begins until an event ends the representative's appointment. See GN 03910.001B for definition of a "pending claim, matter, or issue," and GN 03910.060B for information about events that end a representative's appointment.

An appointed representative may, on behalf of the claimant:

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obtain information about the pending claim, matter, or issue that we would generally provide to the claimant such as additional evidence, a consultative examination report submitted to the record, or our determinations or decisions regarding the claim, matter, or issue;
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be notified of any determinations or decisions regarding an affected auxiliary beneficiary, if any. See GN 03910.025C for information about representation of an affected auxiliary beneficiary and disclosure of his or her records;
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submit evidence;
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appear at non-medical appointments or interviews on behalf of a claimant if he or she is unable to do so (e.g., claimant lives in a rural area and does not have easy access to transportation);
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make statements about facts and laws at a hearing (however, as stated below, appointed representatives are not permitted to testify in place of the claimant at a hearing); and
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make any request or give any notice about the proceedings before us.

See GN 03316.125 for information about actions that an appointed representative may take on behalf of the claimant.

However, an appointed representative may not:

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sign an application on behalf of the claimant (unless the representative is a proper applicant, as explained in GN 00204.003);
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testify in place of the claimant at an administrative hearing;
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change the claimant's personal information (e.g., first or last name or mailing address) or financial institution information (e.g., direct deposit bank account) in our records unless the appointed representative is otherwise qualified to do so (e.g., a parent of a minor child or a legal guardian). See GN 02605.001 for information on change of address requests, GN 02401.000 for information on issuance of benefit checks to claimants, and GN 02402.000 for information on direct deposit of Title II and Title XVI benefits;
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consent to the disclosure of records on behalf of the claimant. See GN 03305.006 for information on third parties who may not consent to the disclosure of records on behalf of another individual; or
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delegate the authority to represent the claimant or perform "representational services" to anyone whom the claimant has not appointed as a representative. See GN 03910.025B for examples of duties that an appointed representative can delegate to an associate.

B. Delegation of duties and disclosure of records

1. Delegation of duties

An appointed representative is not required to personally perform every task related to the representation of the claimant and may delegate specific duties to an associate. However, these associates must always act under the direction of the appointed representative. The appointed representative is responsible for his or her associates' actions while the appointment is in effect and during the representation of the claimant.

a. Examples of duties an appointed representative can delegate to an associate

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developing the claimant's medical record; or
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preparing written materials for an appeal.

b. Examples of duties an appointed representative cannot delegate to an associate

An appointed representative cannot delegate to an associate the performance of tasks that require taking legally significant actions about the claimant's case such as:

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appearing at a hearing and presenting the claimant's case in proceedings before us;
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cross-examining witnesses;
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making legal arguments;
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advising the claimant on our laws and policies; and
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deciding whether to appeal any adverse determinations or decisions.

2. Disclosure of Records

Generally, once a representative is properly appointed, we may disclose the claimant's information to that representative without further written consent from the claimant. See GN 03316.125 for information on disclosure to appointed representatives.

However, we only disclose information from the claimant's records to an appointed representative's designated associate (e.g., clerks, partners, or parties under contractual arrangements) or organization if the claimant provides written consent via Form SSA-1696 (Claimant's Appointment of a Representative) or another acceptable form, such as the Form SSA-3288 (Consent for Release of Information). See GN 03305.001 for information on disclosure with consent.

IMPORTANT: While we will disclose information to appointed representatives outside of the United States, we will not disclose information to these representative's designated associates located outside of the United States unless the claimant provides prior written consent naming the designated associate for whom disclosure is permitted.

a. Disclosure to an appointed representative's designated associate

An appointed representative's designated associate may obtain the claimant's information from us only if the claimant provided his or her written consent on the written notice of appointment (e.g., Form SSA-1696 or any other writing) or Form SSA-3288 or equivalent valid written consent document.

NOTE: The claimant does not need to specify the name of the designated associate on the Form SSA-1696. In order to provide the necessary consent on the Form SSA-1696, the claimant may select the appropriate box in Section 2 of the form that authorizes us to release information to designated associates of the appointed representative for administrative duties. If the claimant authorizes a designated associate to receive information, the designated associate does not need to file a separate Form SSA-3288 with us. Designated associates must be able to properly identify themselves and the appointed representative they are working for and provide the claimant's identifying information before we can disclose any information to them.

See GN 03305.003 for information on consent documents and GN 03305.025B for information on disclosure with consent to appointed representatives and designated associates.

b. Disclosure to an organization or entity

A claimant may, without appointing a representative, specifically consent to disclosure of his or her records or other information to an organization or entity by completing Form SSA-3288 or equivalent valid written consent document.

See GN 03305.025 for disclosure to legal aid groups and private law firms and GN 03305.999 for an exhibit of Form SSA-3288.

NOTE: While a claimant may consent to disclosure of his or her records to an entity (e.g., law firm or legal aid organization), he or she cannot appoint the entity as his or her representative because appointed representatives must be individuals and meet certain qualifications. See GN 03910.020 for information about qualifications for and recognition of representatives.

c. Further disclosure by appointed representatives, designated associates, or organizations is generally not permitted

An appointed representative, designated associate, or organization should not disclose the claimant's information further without prior written consent from the claimant.

Additionally, when multiple representatives are appointed to a pending claim, matter, or issue, all of the representatives must be appointed prior to the disclosure of the claimant's information to each other.

NOTE: Consent to the disclosure of medical records, particularly for children's records, is further limited. See GN 03305.003J, GN 03305.005C, and GN 03305.005D for information on consent for minor children, including disclosure of medical records. See GN 03340.035 for information on access to records.

3. Handling disclosure requests from appointed representatives, designated associates, or organizations

We handle disclosure requests from appointed representatives, designated associates, or organizations as follows:

a. Disclosure over the phone

We may disclose information to him or her over the phone with the claimant’s prior written consent. See GN 03305.002 on limitations on disclosure with consent and GN 03305.005 on who may consent to disclosure of records

To protect the claimant's privacy, you must:

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carefully examine any request to disclose information from the claimant's record to the requester;
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identify and authenticate the requester, as explained in GN 03380.005B. If the requester is the appointed representative’s designated associate, review the written notice of appointment to confirm that the claimant authorized disclosure to the requester (i.e., claimant checked the appropriate box in Section 2 of the Form SSA-1696);
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review the record to confirm the representative's appointment is in effect. If the appointed representative is registered, look for his or her information in the Registration, Appointment and Services for Representatives (RASR) application; and
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ask the appointed representative or designated associate to provide the identifying information of the claimant, as explained in GN 03380.005.

b. Disclosure in person

Prior to disclosing information about a claimant, you must:

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identify and authenticate the requester, as explained in GN 03380.005B. If the requester is the appointed representative’s designated associate, review the written notice of appointment to confirm that the claimant authorized disclosure to the requester (i.e., claimant checked the appropriate box in Section 2 of the Form SSA-1696);
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review the record to confirm the representative’s appointment is in effect;
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review the notice of appointment to confirm that the claimant authorized disclosure to the appointed representative’s designated associate or review the record to verify that the claimant provided written consent to authorize disclosure to the organization; and
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ask the appointed representative or designated associate to provide the identifying information of the claimant, as explained in GN 03380.005.

IMPORTANT: Never provide any of the claimant’s or affected auxiliary beneficiary's personally identifiable information (PII) either in-person or over the phone without following established disclosure policies.

4. Disclosure to attorneys who represent claimants at Federal court

An attorney who represents a claimant before a Federal court, but is not appointed to represent the claimant before the agency, has no authority to receive any information from our records unless the claimant also appoints this attorney as his or her representative before the agency or otherwise properly authorizes disclosure to this attorney (i.e., claimant signs a Form SSA-3288 or equivalent, valid written consent document that meets the requirements for disclosure, as explained in GN 03305.003D).

See GN 03305.001 for information on disclosure with consent.

5. Disclosure of queries and other sensitive material

We do not routinely disclose queries (e.g., system screen-shots of a claimant's past due benefits), sensitive information unrelated to the claim for which the representative has been appointed to handle such as tax return information in the record that the appointed representative does not have a need for when providing representational services to the claimant, administrative messages, and program operations manual system (POMS) or emergency messages designated by the agency as "sensitive."

See GN 03305.003C and GN 03305.004 for information on disclosure of queries.

C. Representation of a primary claimant's affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse and disclosure of his or her records

Unless informed otherwise, we consider a primary claimant’s appointed representative to also represent the primary claimant’s affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse (see Social Security Ruling (SSR) 68-61c). This ruling reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hopkins v. Cohen, 390 U.S. 530 (1968), which established that the representative of a primary claimant is deemed to be acting on behalf of all other claimants in the case, and accordingly has a right to charge and collect fees for services from the affected auxiliary beneficiary's or eligible spouse's past-due benefits.

Consistent with SSR 68-61c, we will release to a primary claimant's appointed representative copies of any notices sent to the affected auxiliary beneficiary (including notices sent to the affected auxiliary beneficiary not living in the primary claimant's household) or eligible spouse unless the affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse:

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appoints his or her own representative. See GN 03920.035B for information on withholding from an affected auxiliary beneficiary who is independently represented and GN 03920.036B for information on withholding from an eligible spouse who is independently represented;
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tells us in writing that he or she does not want to be represented by the primary claimant's representative and does not appoint his or her own representative; or
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tells us that the primary claimant's appointed representative should not receive copies of the notices and does not appoint his or her own representative.

NOTE 1: In the second and third exceptions described above, we will explain to the affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse about the withholding of his or her past-due benefits amount for payment of the primary claimant's appointed representative's authorized fee consistent with GN 03920.035D or GN 03920.036C.

NOTE 2: If the affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse does not appoint his or her own representative, we will create an appointment for each affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse in RASR for a single purpose: payment of the primary claimant's representative authorized fee. RASR will not release to the primary claimant's appointed representative any appointment-related notices about the affected auxiliary beneficiary or eligible spouse.

See GN 03316.105 for information on disclosure without consent to primary claimant about the auxiliary beneficiary and GN 03316.110 for information on disclosure without consent to auxiliary claimant/beneficiaries about the primary claimant/beneficiary or number holder.

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GN 03910.025 - Authority of Appointed Representatives - 11/20/2015
Batch run: 11/27/2024
Rev:11/20/2015

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)