Direct payment of an approved representative's fee from past-due benefits, including the calculation and deduction of the assessment, is fully automated in most title XVI only and concurrent titles II and XVI fee agreement cases. In addition, the supplemental security record (SSR) automatically passes the fee and assessment information to the Single Payment System (SPS).

The direct payment of an approved representative's fee is not fully automated when:

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  there are multiple representatives,

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  it is necessary to manually calculate the fee to authorize,

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  there is a prior period overpayment, or

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  the issue pertains to post-eligibility (e.g., disability cessation).

In these situations, it is necessary to manually calculate the assessment and then use the A-OTP process to pay the authorized fee directly to the claimant's representative (see MSOM BUSSR 003.025).

In concurrent titles II and XVI cases that are not automated, it is necessary to query the SPS (SSA Main Menu, item 27) to determine the assessment amount that SSA has already deducted from the fee amount(s) paid directly to the representative from the title II past-due benefits, as well as the title II authorized fee, to ensure that the total assessment does not exceed the flat rate cap based on the annual cost of living adjustment. (See GN 03920.019 for the dollar amount of the flat-rate assessment cap.)

Refer to SM 01901.950, One Time Payment (OTP) Processing for Direct Payment for Manual Fee Agreements and Fee Petitions for Appointed Representatives, and MSOM BUSSR 003.025, One-Time Payment Fees (UPOF) for information on the A-OTP process to pay the authorized fee.