OEIO is responsible for the reclamation of improperly paid IDD funds under any one of the following circumstances:

1. 1. 

   if the incorrect payment went outside the U.S. to a country listed in GN 02408.920F, and the total outstanding amount is greater than $100;

2. 2. 

   the Payment Integrity and Resolution Services (PIRS) already made two unsuccessful attempts to reclaim incorrect payments through the FI, or

3. 3. 

   has already reclaimed part of the incorrectly issued payments, but part of the money is still outstanding.

OEIO technicians use the Automated Initial Development PC8 (AID8) program which automatically creates a diary and/or a Modernize Development Worksheet (MDW) to develop to the field office.

It will pre-propagate language to send to the field office . The language can be edited to tailor the development to any particular case as needed.

If OEIO does not receive a response within 40 days, OEIO sends a second request and diaries for 45 days.

If OEIO does not receive a response to the second request within 45 days, or if the FI returns part of the money and some remains outstanding, OEIO sends a request for the outstanding funds to the estate of the beneficiary, and does the following:

• •

  if the address for the estate is unknown, OEIO uses the last known address for the entitled beneficiary or survivor;

• •

  if no response arrives within 40 days, OEIO sends a follow-up letter marked “Second Request”;

• •

  after the second follow-up letter, if no response arrives within 40 more days, OEIO annotates the record that there was no response received to either letter.

The Payment Integrity and Resolution Services (PIRS) processes reclamation requests for certain countries when the outstanding amount is $100 or more. Technicians must enter all reclamation requests for PIRS through the International Treasury Services application (ITS.gov). Instructions for entering reclamations are available on the ITS.gov help file. PIRS processes reclamation requests for the countries listed in the following chart:

When PIRS receives a request for reclamation from the Office of Earnings and International Operations (OEIO) or a consular office, PIRS:

1. 1. 

   Obtains the $US amount from the files;

2. 2. 

   Converts the $US amount to the correct foreign currency amount, if applicable;

3. 3. 

   Obtains the bank address and beneficiary's account number;

4. 4. 

   Sends a written request to the financial institution (FI) requesting the return of the funds;

5. 5. 

   Notifies the requester of the date the request was sent to the FI; and

6. 6. 

   Diaries for 40 days (to allow for mail delivery).

If the FI does not respond within 40 days, PIRS sends a followup letter to the FI and a notice to OEIO of the second request. If the FI does not respond to the followup within 40 days, PIRS notifies OEIO and closes the case.

Effective immediately, PIRS will upload a copy of the written request to the FI in ITS.gov and annotate in the comment section if the FI provides a response.

If the FI returns some or all of the funds, the money goes directly to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). FRBNY returns the funds to SSA with the original trace number. If the return is only a partial refund of a payment, FRBNY returns the partial payment with a pseudo trace number and notifies PIRS that SSA will receive a manual return from Treasury.

Although PIRS does not accept reclamation requests for under $100, FRBNY does accept any returned payments (full or partial) that an FI or Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) returns.

• •

  GN 02408.915 – Process When OEIO Is Responsible for the Reclamation

• •

  GN 02408.930 – International Direct Deposit (IDD) Reclamation Process for a Federal Benefits Unit (FBU)

If incorrect payments went to an FI in France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, or United Kingdom, the appropriate FBU sends a reclamation letter and a response form to the FI and diaries for 30 days. The letter requests the FI to return the funds to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s (FRBNY) account at the contractor FI for that country.

If the FI has not responded within 30 days, the FBU follows up on the reclamation request and diaries for an additional 30 days. If the FI does not refund the money, or if it refunds only part of the money, the FBU notifies the Office of Earnings and International Operations (OEIO) of the efforts made, and the results of the reclamation request.

If incorrect payments went to an FI in Mexico, the FBU sends a letter to the estate or the survivors of the deceased beneficiary. Mexican banking law does not allow FIs to release any money from a customer’s account without a signed agreement from the account holder. They do not accept a statement after the account holder is dead, regardless of when the statement was made. The FBU in Mexico does not send any reclamation requests to an FI in Mexico.