When an individual protests a DCN overpayment by asserting that they did not receive or did not cash both checks, it is appropriate to have that individual file a request for reconsideration . A claimant must request reconsideration within 60 days of the date of the notice of initial determination. If the claimant requests reconsideration within the first 30 days from the date of the overpayment notice, recovery will not begin. If the claimant requests reconsideration anytime from the 31st day until the 60th day, overpayment recovery may have begun but will be suspended until a forgery determination is received from the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). Any monies collected will NOT be returned at this point. Adjudication of a request for reconsideration filed after the 60 days must be supported by good cause and overpayment recovery will be suspended while awaiting a forgery determination from Treasury.

If claimant wishes to appeal the DCN overpayment but does not do so within the 60-day reconsideration period, nor is good cause established, SSA will send the FS-1133(s) to Treasury for a forgery determination. HOWEVER, OVERPAYMENT RECOVERY WILL CONTINUE. It is to SSA’s advantage to have Treasury determine whether forgery is a factor or not so the money can be reclaimed if appropriate. However, because the protest was neither timely nor met good cause, overpayment recovery will continue.

The following describes the forms needed and actions taken during the reconsideration process.

This section provides instructions for the FO, PC and TSC when the beneficiary or recipient protests an overpayment caused by negotiation of the original and courtesy disbursement or replacement check (within 60 days of overpayment notice).

The request for reconsideration cannot be processed outside of the allowable 60-day reconsideration period when the criteria for good cause is not met. However, it is to SSA’s advantage to have Treasury perform the forgery determination. If forgery is involved, Treasury will reclaim the money and return it to SSA. Therefore, the FS-1133 should be completed by the claimant and sent to Treasury for a forgery determination. Unlike an “official” reconsideration situation, overpayment recovery is NOT discontinued nor is there a requirement for the SSA-795 or SSA-561 (because this is not an official “reconsideration period”).

IMPORTANT: For Treasury to reclaim if forgery is involved Treasury MUST receive the completed claims package absolutely no later than 16 months after the issue date. Treasury must process the forgery claim and, if forgery is found, request reclamation from the bank before 18 months have passed since the issue date. It is important to get the claims package to Treasury as soon as possible to allow time for Treasury to resolve any obstacles, such as an illegible bank stamp on the back of the check (if this prevents reclamation, the check copy must be sent to the FRB for resolution).

Once Treasury receives a completed FS-1133 from the claimant, it conducts a forgery investigation to determine if the claimant signed the check, cashed the check, gave someone else permission to cash the check, or benefited from or participated in all or part of the proceeds of the original check. Treasury will consider all information in the file. In addition:

The FO or PC will take the following action when the claimant protests Treasury's forgery determination.

Although the MBR and SSR indicate if a DCN has occurred in the preceding 2 years, neither Title II nor Title XVI has a dedicated query/field to indicate that a forgery determination has been requested, decided, appealed, denied, etc. The presence of this information is important to determining misuse/a pattern of reporting nonreceipt as well as providing a diary of due process events. In order to supplement data carried on the MBR/SSR, enter the following information in remarks or the Special Message Field as follows.

• •

  Claimant protests the overpayment resulting from the DCN and the date of the check(s) involved (Example: “MM/DD/YYYY Protest O/P of 11/03/97 CK”);

• •

  Date the FS-1133 is sent to Treasury for a forgery determination (if known) (Example: “1133 Treasury MM/DD/YYYY”);

• •

  Treasury's decision on the forgery claim obtained from the claims disposition notice (Example: “MM/DD/YYYY No Forgery on 11/03/97 CK”);

• •

  Forgery claim denied and claimant protests the denial (Example: “MM/DD/YYYY protest Treasury denial”);

• •

  Beneficiary/recipient is true DCN abuser. Add the phrase, “DCN Abuse - Input as C-stop until mm/yy” in the “RMKS” field on the SSR and/or “SPMSG” field on the MBR. If additional DCN abuse occurs, the date should be changed to reflect the most recent occurrence of the abuse.

Remember that a Title II protest can be recorded, and overpayment recovery ceased (if appropriate) as soon as the objection to the DCN overpayment is made. The Title XVI protest should not be recorded, nor overpayment recovery ceased until the signed SSA-561 is received.

IMPORTANT: Double check negotiations should NOT be waived as they indicate an intention to commit fraud by falsely stating that the check was not received. Similarly, the $2000 waiver tolerance does not apply because the beneficiary or claimant is not “without fault.”

FORMAL PROTEST

The following claimant is filing a formal protest on the forgery determination made by your office.

CLAIMANT’S NAME   ­______________________________                                              

 

CLAIMANT’S CURRENT ADDRESS ____________________________                                         

 

 

SSN  _____________________________                                      

 

PROGRAM (check one): ____   SSI (Title XVI) or  _____  SSA (Title II) _____

 

CHECK NUMBER __________ CHECK SYMBOL  ____________                       

 

CHECK DATE__________ CHECK AMOUNT ____________

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION   __________________________                                    

CLAIMANT’S SIGNATURE ________________________________                                              

Please contact the person named below if you have any questions.

 

GN 03101.020 - Good Cause for Extending the Time Limit to File an Appeal

GN 03102.100 - The Reconsideration Process

GN 02406.001 - Glossary of Nonreceipt Terms

GN 02406.160 - Description and When to Use Department of the Treasury Forms FMS-1133 and FMS-3858

MSOM DMS 006.019 - Protest/Stop Recovery Request (FO) (DRPF)

MSOM DMS 006.020 - Protest/Stop Recovery Request (TSC) (DRPT)

MSOM MS 00304.008 Overpayment Decisions (UOPD)

NL 00703.119 - Reconsideration Affirms Overpayment Determination (Reconsideration Only Requested)—Refund Requested and Adjustment Proposed

SI 04020.000 - Reconsideration - SSI