Following is an explanation about fees for your services.
Amount of Fee
You may collect a fee of up to 10 percent of the total monthly benefits, up to a maximum
of $59 per month, from beneficiaries receiving disability benefits, if we have found
they have a substance use disorder. In all other cases, you may collect a fee of up
to 10 percent of the total monthly benefits, up to a maximum of $31 per month.
If a beneficiary receives more than one payment in a month, these limits still apply.
Example:
A beneficiary receives both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. The
combined payments total $400. In this example, the maximum fee is $40 (10 percent)
per month if the beneficiary is receiving disability benefits, if we have found they
have a substance use disorder. . If not, the fee is $31 per month.
Funds That Cannot Be Used To Pay Fees
Fees for representative payee services cannot be paid from:
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A beneficiary's conserved funds (savings or checking accounts, bonds, etc.); or
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A personal needs allowance set aside for a Supplemental Security Income recipient.
When To Collect Fees
You can collect fees for any month in which your organization:
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is authorized by SSA to collect a fee; and
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receives a payment as representative payee for the beneficiary; and
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is not being paid by another source for providing the representative payee services.
You cannot collect fees for any month in which your organization:
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does not receive a payment for the beneficiary; or
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is the beneficiary's court-appointed guardian and is collecting a guardianship fee.
Applying to Be Representative Payee for Other Beneficiaries
If your organization wants to apply to be representative payee for another beneficiary
and collect a fee for serving as representative payee, be sure that both of the following
statements are in the “Remarks” section of the Form SSA-11-BK (Request to be Selected
as Payee):
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“As an authorized organization, we will collect a fee for acting as this person's
representative payee.”
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“We are/are not [enter whichever applies] a creditor of this individual.”
If you are a creditor and we select your organization, we will let you know whether
you may collect the fees for services when you begin receiving the payments as representative
payee. You may not collect the fees unless we authorize you to do so.
REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE RESPONSIBILITIES
Reporting Changes In Your Organization
All representative payees must report to SSA changes that could affect the amount
of the beneficiary's payment or his or her entitlement to benefits. (Each time we
select your organization to be representative payee for a beneficiary, we send you
a pamphlet explaining the changes you must report.)
But, you must now also report any changes within your organization that may affect
your authorization to collect a fee. Report these changes to the manager of the Social
Security office that authorized your organization to collect a fee.
Accounting for Use of Benefits
Your organization must still use the remaining benefits for the beneficiary's personal
care and well-being. Each time we select your organization to be representative payee
for a beneficiary, we will send you a pamphlet explaining the proper use of benefits.
It is important that you keep accurate monthly records of how much you collect from
each individual for representative payee services and how the remaining benefits were
used. Your records must be available for our review at any time.
Every representative payee must periodically account to us for the use of benefits
received for each beneficiary. When we need an accounting from your organization,
we will send you a Form SSA-623-OCR-SM (Representative Payee Report) with instructions
for completion.
When you complete the SSA-623-OCR-SM, you should include the fees for representative
payee services on line 3C. This is the question that asks about money spent on things
other than food or shelter, such as clothing, education, recreation and personal items.