If a PC or FO technician believes the
decision maker incorrectly approved a fee agreement,
they will refer the case to ^DA
DICompliance Hearings ILQR Fees.
Within 30 days, the Director of Hearings ILQR or a
designee will review the disputed action to determine whether the
agreement meets the provisions in section 206(a)(2)(A) of the Act, and is not
excepted from the fee agreement process, as set forth in HALLEX HA 01120.012.
If the Director of Hearings ILQR or designee concludes the decision
maker incorrectly approved a fee agreement, they will:
•
Issue an order to the claimant disapproving the fee
agreement, advising that if the representative intends to charge and
collect a fee, they must file a fee petition;
•
Send a copy of the order disapproving the fee agreement
to each representative who signed the fee agreement with a cover
letter;
•
Advise the claimant and representative that they
may request review of the disapproval of the fee agreement within
15 days of receipt of the notice (see HALLEX HA 01120.041C).;
•
If there is a valid assignment as described in POMS
GN 03920.021,
send a copy to the entity's point of contact (POC); and
•
Send notification that a copy of the corrective action
is available in the claim(s) file or the Online Retrieval System (ORS)
to the respective PC or FO and the decision maker who signed the prior
order (see HALLEX HA
01120.096 for a list of PC email addresses).
In the limited circumstances described
in HALLEX HA
01120.053A, the POC is the only individual able to submit a fee
petition. Failure to provide a copy of the notice described above to
the POC may frustrate the POC's effort to file a timely fee petition or
notice of intent and cause the Social Security Administration to fail
to withhold past-due benefits for direct payment of the representative's
fee to the entity.
If the Director of Hearings ILQR or designee affirms the fee
agreement approval, he or she will alert the PC or FO to process the
representative's fee under the fee agreement process.
Additionally, if hearings or AC level personnel become aware
that a fee agreement was erroneously approved, the decision maker who
issued the decision may issue an amended fee order disapproving the fee
agreement if:
•
Neither the claimant nor representative has submitted
a request for administrative review of the approval of the fee
agreement;
•
The PC or FO has not submitted a protest of the fee
agreement approval;
•
The representative has not submitted a fee petition;
and
•
The fee agreement approval was issued within the previous
15 days.
If all four conditions are not met, the hearings or AC-level
staff must notify Hearings ILQR at ^DA
DICompliance Hearings ILQR Fees. Hearings ILQR will then take the
steps in HALLEX HA
01120.049B above, as if they had received a protest from the
effectuating component.