Effective Dates: 05/26/2023 - Present Previous | Next

TN 43 (07-23)

GN 02605.055 Title II Undeliverable Mail — Change of Address (COA)

CITATIONS:

CFR § 422.135, 404.1596(b)(2)(ii)
Social Security Ruling 99-1p

A. Policy for Title II undeliverable mail

SSA must have a current address for all beneficiaries so that we can contact them when necessary to ensure that entitlement still exists. Mail returned as “undeliverable” by the United States Postal Service (USPS) might indicate that:

  • •

    The beneficiary has moved;

  • •

    The address of record is incorrect due to an error; or

  • •

    An event affecting entitlement has occurred (e.g., death).

NOTE: 

The policy in this subsection does not apply to "undeliverable" checks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) serves as our disbursement agency. Therefore, when Treasury mails a check and for any circumstances the beneficiary moved or the address is no longer valid, the check is returned to Treasury. If someone returns a benefit check to the field office, refer to GN 02405.010 How to Process Unendorsed Title II Returned Benefit and Unendorsed Claimant Representative Attorney Fee Checks Received in the Field Office.

1. Undeliverable mail that requires development

Undeliverable mail that requires an action by the beneficiary must be developed for a more current address. The following are examples of undeliverable mail that require development. This list is not all inclusive:

  • •

    Beneficiary Recontact Notices sent by the requesting FO or PSC;

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    Any notice containing waiver and appeal rights (i.e., Due Process notices) of an adverse action;

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    Direct contact notices sent by the requesting FO or PSC;

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    Notices of Award, Disallowance, or Disapproved Claim;

  • •

    FO or PSC requests for information (i.e., FO come-in notices) ;

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    Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) notices;

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    General Enrollment Period (GEP) Medicare packages;

  • •

    Automatic enrollment in Medicare notices;

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    Initial Medicare enrollment packages; and

  • •

    Representative Payee Accounting Forms (i.e., SSA-623, SSA-6230, SSA-623, SSA-6233) (follow GN 00605.045).

EXCEPTION: All other mail not requiring a response by the beneficiary may be discarded, except for special situations in GN 02605.055C.

2. Undeliverable mail that does not require development

Undeliverable mail that is “informational” in nature and does not require a response from the beneficiary may be discarded without further development. The following are examples of undeliverable mail that do not require development and can be discarded. This list is not all inclusive:

  • •

    Any undeliverable mail without a full SSN or a Beneficiary Notice Control number (BNC#);

  • •

    Benefit Verification (BEVE) notices;

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    Benefit Rate Increase (BRI) notices;

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    Continuing Disability Review (CDR) cancellation notices;

  • •

    Change of Payee notices where final accounting is not due;

  • •

    Direct Deposit or change of address confirmation notices;

  • •

    Returned check call-in (REACT & LAF S9) notices;

  • •

    Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) outreach notices;

  • •

    Mid-Year mailer notices; etc.

NOTE: 

Any Title XVI undeliverable mail received in the PSC can be forwarded to the servicing field office for their action.

See the Undeliverable Mail Processing Guide to further assist clerical personnel in determining which undeliverable mail items require development and which undeliverable mail items can be discarded without further development.

B. Procedure for undeliverable mail that requires development

Follow the steps below to obtain the beneficiary’s current address. Make sure to annotate the Special Message field on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) with all your efforts to locate the beneficiary and the outcome of your development. For more information on the special message field of the MBR, see SM 00510.075.

1. Query the MBR or SSR

If benefits are terminated or suspended on the MBR, destroy the undeliverable mail even if it meets the criteria for undeliverable mail that requires development as previously described.

If a more current address is found on the MBR, remail the notice using an appropriate cover letter (i.e., Undeliverable Mail Cover Letter found in the Document Processing System (DPS) or Aurora).

If a more current address is not found on the MBR, check for a Supplemental Security Income (SID) Data Line on the MBR. For more information on the SID, see SM 00510.510 . Query the Supplemental Security Record (SSR) when a SID line is present for a more current address.

  • •

    On the Supplemental Security Income Queries (SSQM) screen key in “ADDR” on the Segment Request Identifiers line (see MS 05203.006).

  • •

    When the record is displayed, look for the address change date (ACD) field.

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    If this date is later than the ADDR Updated field on the MBR, accept the Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) address as the most current address for the beneficiary.

If a more current address is found, update the MBR via the Post Entitlement Online System (POS) (see MS 06303.002), and remail the notice using an appropriate cover letter (i.e., Undeliverable Mail Cover Letter found in DPS or Aurora).

2. Contact the beneficiary by phone

If you do not find a better address on the MBR or SSR, review both records to see if the beneficiary has a phone number. If the beneficiary has a phone number, attempt to contact the beneficiary or the beneficiary’s representative payee by telephone at least twice, at different times of day. If contact is made, follow these steps:

  • •

    Identify yourself and the office from which you are calling;

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    Be sure the beneficiary or the beneficiary's representative payee understands what information you need and why you need it. Generally explain SSA must have a current address so that we can contact them about Social Security related matters, claims, or benefits;

  • •

    Do not encourage the individual to ask any questions but be as receptive as possible to questions raised. If the individual asks for information about entitlement or benefit payments, follow instructions in GN 00203.020 to establish the individual’s identity. After you have established the individual’s identity, you may disclose information about entitlement or benefit payments as permitted under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. For information on disclosure, see GN 03305.001 and GN 03360.005 . If you are unable to verify the individual, do not reveal any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) beyond the beneficiary’s name.

If contact is not made, when possible, leave a message.

CAUTION: When leaving a message, be careful not to disclose any PII beyond the beneficiary’s name or any information that is not permitted under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. For example, leave a generic message saying: “It is important that Melissa Walker responds to our request for information by XX/XX/XX. Please call us back or come into a local field office at your earliest convenience.” Do not say anything specific such as “I’m calling about your Social Security check”. The fact that a beneficiary is receiving benefits from Social Security is PII and is not necessary information that needs to be disclosed to locate the beneficiary.

3. Contact the beneficiary’s financial institution or the USPS or both

If you do not find a current address on the MBR or SSR and are unable to reach the beneficiary or representative payee by phone, review both records to see if the beneficiary has direct deposit. If the beneficiary has direct deposit, contact the financial institution (FI) and the USPS. If the beneficiary does not have direct deposit, contact the USPS only.

Follow these steps to contact the FI and USPS:

  • •

    Contact the beneficiary’s FI (if receiving direct deposit) and the USPS at the same time;

  • •

    Prepare the letter E3759, Request to Financial Institution For Correct Beneficiary Address in (NL 00703.759), or the Locate Letter (Beneficiary’s Bank) under “General” category in DPS, or prepare a letter similar to the E3759 to send to the FI;

  • •

    Fax or mail the E3759 or substitute letter to the FI. Under the Right to Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. 3413(k), banks are permitted to disclose the information to SSA;

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    Prepare and send SSA-L2001, Address Information Request, to the USPS servicing the address of record.

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    You may use DPS to print both notices.

CAUTION: Develop in-care-of addresses per (GN 02605.005).

  • •

    Diary the case for 30 days.

NOTE: 

It is not necessary to contact Comerica, if Direct Express is involved.

4. If a new address is obtained from FI or USPS

Input any new address furnished by the FI or USPS through POS, see MS 06303.002. Redate and remail the notice using an appropriate cover letter (i.e., Undeliverable Mail Cover Letter found in DPS).

If the USPS replies to the SSA-L2001 that the address of record is good and they still deliver the beneficiary’s mail to that address, follow GN 02605.055B.5.

NOTE: 

If the beneficiary is also receiving Title XVI benefits and the new address does not match the SSR, PSC and TSC technicians must send a Request for Assistance or Modernized Development Worksheet (MDW) to the servicing FO to alert them of the new address and that the SSR needs to be updated via the SSI Claims System. FO technicians must update the new address via the SSI Claims System.

5. FI and USPS cannot furnish a current address

If the FI and USPS cannot furnish a current address and the beneficiary is in LAF C (Current Payment Status) take the following actions:

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    Repeat step one above, checking the MBR, SSR, or both one more time prior to suspending benefits.

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    Suspend benefits with LAF S6 using POS (MS 06303.013) and use MONET (MS 06307.008) to annotate the Special Message field on the MBR with all your efforts to locate the beneficiary and the outcome of your development with the FI and USPS.

EXAMPLE: MBR Special Message - “A’s overpayment notice dated 01/20/99 returned as undeliverable, unable to obtain current address after MBR/SSR search, two phone calls, and FI and USPS contact, suspending benefits effective MM/DD/YY.”

  • •

    Discard the undeliverable mail if the notice is stored in the Online Retrieval System (ORS); or

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    If the notice is not stored in ORS, fax the notice to the Non-Disability Repository for Evidentiary Documents (NDRed) using the Evidence Portal (EP). See GN 00301.310 for the link to the NDRed application. For more information on EP, see MS 09701.001.

NOTE: 

If the case involves disability benefits, consider the procedures in DI 13010.160 and SM 03020.050. If the case involves a continuing disability review (CDR), also refer to instructions in DI 13015.013, DI 28075.005, DI 40525.001, and DI 13015.011. If you received a first or third-party report that a beneficiary’s whereabouts are unknown, use S-9 to suspend benefits. See GN 02602.320 for more information.

If the MBR shows the record is other than LAF C (i.e., LAF D, U, N, ND, etc.) take the following actions:

  • •

    Annotate the Special Message field on the MBR;

EXAMPLE: MBR Special Message - “T’s notice of award dated 01/20/09 returned as undeliverable, unable to obtain current address.”

  • •

    Discard the undeliverable mail if the notice is stored in ORS; or

  • •

    If the notice is not stored in ORS, fax the notice to NDRed using the Evidence Portal (EP).

6. Beneficiary or representative payee responds to efforts to locate

If the beneficiary or the beneficiary’s representative payee responds to our efforts to locate them, update their address per instructions in GN 02605.001 and send the returned mail to their current address.

7. Beneficiary or representative payee responds to suspense action

If the beneficiary or the beneficiary's representative payee responds to the suspense action, follow these steps:

  1. a. 

    Reinstate benefits immediately by inputting the new address. If the beneficiary or the beneficiary's representative payee states that the address of record is correct, input it with a slight variation (i.e., change “St.” to “Street” or “Box” to “BX”). See NL 01501.000 for examples.

  2. b. 

    Update the address with direct deposit data to continue direct deposit. Follow instructions in MS 06303.002 if cancellation or new direct deposit data is involved.

  3. c. 

    Redate and remail the notice using an appropriate cover letter (i.e., Undeliverable Mail Cover Letter found in DPS or AURORA).

  4. d. 

    Do NOT delete any prior Special Messages related to undeliverable mail efforts.

C. Presumption of death after seven-year benefit suspension

When benefits have been suspended for “undeliverable mail” for a period of at least seven continuous years from the first date we determined an adult Title II non-disabled beneficiary failed to respond to our contact efforts, assume that the reason the beneficiary failed to request resumption of their benefits is death.

Terminate entitlement to benefits effective with the date we first suspended the individual’s benefits due to undeliverable mail unless there is convincing evidence to establish a more likely date of death. If evidence rebuts the presumption of death, follow the instructions in GN 00304.050.

Use MONET to annotate the Special Message field on the MBR again. Do NOT delete any prior Special Messages related to undeliverable mail efforts. EXAMPLE: MBR Special Message - “Beneficiary record has been in continuous undeliverable mail suspense status since MM/DD/YY. Presumption of death policy applies.”

D. Special situation references

Follow these specific references and instructions for developing mail in the following special situations:

  • •

    Returned benefit checks, see GN 02405.000;

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    Mail marked “deceased,” see GN 02602.050;

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    Undeliverable overpayment bills, see GN 02210.213C;

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    Representative Payee Reporting Forms, see GN 00605.045;

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    Title XVI mail, see GN 02605.060;

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    Medicare Part D (i.e., SSA-1026SCE) notices, see HI 03090.001D;

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    Advance notice prisoner suspension: Add a Special Message to the MBR stating the advance notice was returned as undeliverable because the beneficiary is in prison. See GN 02607.700A1;

  • •

    Continuing Disability Review mailer forms (i.e., SSA-455), see DI 40502.001; and

  • •

    Required Contacts before Issuing Payments Following a Period of Suspension or Nonpayment, see GN 00504.160.

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202605055
GN 02605.055 - Title II Undeliverable Mail — Change of Address (COA) - 05/26/2023
Batch run: 06/05/2025
Rev:05/26/2023