Sometimes the Social Security Administration (SSA) is unable to reclaim on EFT payments issued to a deceased beneficiary's bank account because of the Department of the Treasury's (Treasury) Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) reclamation processing requirements.

For example, BFS can not process reclamations on EFT payments issued prior to October 1, 2013 due to a limitation in Treasury's Payments, Claims, & Enhanced Reconciliation (PACER) system. PACER will not display payment data paid prior to January 1, 2014, that does not have a claim, return, or reclamation. Therefore, Treasury is unable to process a request for reclamation for any payment paid prior to January 1, 2014, if the payment has no prior claim on it.

In addition, SSA cannot reclaim on EFT payments when we have previously processed a reclamation against the beneficiary's account due to system limitations. For example, if BFS reclaims Jane Doe's payments from January 2022 through March 2022 due to death and we find out Jane died in October 2021, Treasury cannot process a subsequent reclamation on the payments made after death in November and December 2021. When a subsequent reclamation action is identified, technicians should follow local processing center instructions.

All reclamation actions involving payments issued after January 1, 2014, should continue to be processed according to policy with no interruptions. For EFT Reclamations, which involve payments issued prior to January 1, 2014, do not submit an E-stop. An E-stop for payments issued prior to January 1, 2014 will result in TDSC 07 REACT exceptions for Title II reclamation actions, see SM 00545.295 and SM 00609.610.

NOTE: Check payments are unaffected, as limited payability policy should be followed, see GN 02401.901.

If the financial institution (FI) responds to the Notice of Reclamation (NOR) by returning the full amount shown on the FS-133, SSA should contact the FI to request any additional funds received for payments older than January 1, 2014 returned. If the FI returns no funds or partial funds, there is no need to send a notice to the FI.. Once the NOR has been sent, an FI has 60 days to respond with a return of funds and to limit their liability. This information can be found on the claims detail tab in TCIS.

Process Title II reclamations involving payments issued prior to January 1, 2014, where the FI has returned all funds for the E-stop, as follows:

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  All E-stops for payments issued after January 1, 2014 should have already have been input at this point. If not, they cannot be input as the NOR has already been released and a TDSC 07 exception will be received if additional E-stops are input.

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  Add an MBR Special Message line of “PACER Seven Year Case MM/YYYY to MM/YYYY.” The dates should reflect the range of dates we are unable to reclaim through the E-stop process, based on the effective tax date (ETD) found on PHUS.

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  Add a comment to the ACR in paperless, "PACER Seven Year Case."

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  Compile a list including the payment amount, payment date, and bank account number and routing number for payments not included in the E-stop. Technicians may use the templates found in section E. In some processing centers the OAS analyst will send the FI notices in these situations. Therefore, technicians should follow policy along with local guidance and procedures to initiate release of notice to the FI to request the payments issued prior to January 1, 2014. FIs should be directed to return full payments via an R15 ACH return and partial payments via a remittance referencing the SSN to:

SSA - MATPSC

Attn: Remittance Unit Manager

P.O. BOX 3430

Philadelphia, PA 19122

The FI has 60 days to respond and return the requested funds. Apply any credits received to the improper payment on the record.

All reclamation actions involving only payments issued after January 1, 2014, should continue to be processed according to policy GN 02408.301. For certain actions, Central Office will reach out to the local field office via Worktracs and send instructions to take a specific action related to the reconciliation of a Title XVI reclamation. .

When a Title XVI input for termination of benefits due to death is processed, a NOR will be sent to the FI for all payments to be reclaimed up to January 1, 2014. For payments issued prior to January 1, 2014, a request for return of funds will need to be sent to the FI in certain cases.

NOTE: Check payments are unaffected, as limited payability policy should be followed, see GN 02401.901.

If the FI responds to the NOR’s E-stop requests on the FS-133 with a full return of funds, SSA should contact the FI to request for any additional funds received for payments issued prior to January 1, 2014, to be returned. If the FI has limited their liability, there is no need to send a notice to the FI, as the FI has no funds to return. Once the NOR has been sent, an FI has 60 days to respond with a return of funds or to limit their liability. This information can be found on the claims detail tab in TCIS.

Process Title XVI reclamations involving payments issued prior to January 1, 2014, where the FI has returned all funds for the E-stop, as follows:

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  Compile a list including the payment amount, payment date, and bank account number and routing number for payments not included in the NOR which were issued prior to January 1, 2014, from the date of input for termination due to death. Technicians may use the templates found in section E. Only include the payments for the current FI. Do not include payments for any prior FIs. Technicians should follow the policy and local guidance and procedures to initiate release of notice to the FI to request the additional payments as a subsequent reclamation request. FIs should be directed to return full payments via an R15 ACH return and partial payments via a remittance referencing the SSN to:

  SSA - MATPSC

  Attn: Remittance Unit Manager

  P.O. BOX 3430

  Philadelphia, PA 19122

• •

  The FI has 60 days to respond and return the requested funds. Credits received from the FI will be applied to the record by Central Office. Remittances for full returns will be posted to the appropriate payment in the payment history (PMTH) segment, and partial refunds will be posted to the Overpayment Refund Data (OPRR) segment of the Supplemental Security Record (SSR). No follow up with the FI is necessary.

Occasionally, an FI will contact a PC analyst or SSA Central Office to report large amounts of money remaining in an individual’s account due to the account receiving payments after death. In this scenario, the FI and SSA were unaware of the claimant’s death.

When SSA is contacted by an FI, and the bank is willing to return those payments:

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  Work directly with the FS to have the funds returned.

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  Do not ask Treasury to process a reclamation on the payments.

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  Provide the bank with the payee name, payment dates, and payment amounts on SSA letterhead and request that the payments be returned to SSA. A death certificate may also be required. Follow local guidance when composing the notice.

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  Inform the bank the funds should be returned using a code R15 (Beneficiary or account holder deceased) per the Green Book section 4-2.

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  If further assistance is required by the RO or PC OAS Staff, technicians should follow local instructions on where to forward the case for review.

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  After the payments are successfully returned, we decide if the returned payments are due as an underpayment or if the payments are not due because they were issued after the death of the claimant.

Exhibit 1: Agency Supplemental NOR for payments issued prior to January 1, 2014 - No Treasury Reclamation Sent

Exhibit 2: Agency Supplemental NOR for payments issued prior to January 1, 2014 - Treasury Reclamation Sent