If Social Security says you were overpaid, you have three separate options — and picking the wrong form costs you time you may not have. You get 60 days from the date you receive the notice to file an appeal.
Which form you file depends on one question: do you agree the overpayment happened?
Quick answer
| Your situation | File this form |
|---|---|
| You don’t think you were overpaid, or the amount is wrong | SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration |
| You agree, but it wasn’t your fault and you can’t repay | SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Overpayment Recovery |
| You agree and will repay, but not at that monthly rate | SSA-634, Request for Change in Repayment Rate |
You can file more than one. A waiver request and a reconsideration are not mutually exclusive.
What happens if you do nothing
This is the part that surprises people. SSA does not wait.
If you don’t repay within 30 days, the agency starts withholding from your monthly payment automatically. As of the policy in effect since April 25, 2025, the default rate for Social Security (Title II) benefits is 50 percent of your monthly benefit.
SSI works differently. SSA’s instruction is explicit: "The 50 percent withholding rate does not impact Title XVI overpayment recovery policies. The Title XVI overpayment recovery rate will remain at 10 percent."
One more wrinkle worth knowing. If you had an older overpayment being recovered at 10 percent and then incur a new overpayment, the 50 percent rate applies to all outstanding balances. Cases involving a fraud or similar fault determination are excluded from the 50 percent default and handled separately.
The 60-day deadline and why it matters
You have 60 days from the date you received the original overpayment notice to request an appeal.
Filing inside that window does something specific: if you ask for an appeal within 60 days, any payment SSA is currently making continues until the agency makes a determination. Miss the window and collection can begin while your case is still open.
Waiver requests (SSA-632) are different from appeals in one useful way — there’s no 60-day cutoff to ask for a waiver. But the practical advice is the same: file early, because recovery stops once your request is pending.
When you file for a waiver or reconsideration, SSA stops recovering the overpayment until it makes a decision on your request.
SSA-632: what a waiver actually requires
A waiver isn’t a hardship form you fill out and hope. It asks SSA to decide two things at once.
- You did not cause the overpayment. Not fault. If you reported your wages on time and SSA processed them late, that’s a strong position. If you never reported a return to work, it’s not.
- You cannot afford to repay it, or repayment would be unfair for another reason.
Both have to hold. That’s why SSA-632-BK asks for a detailed monthly income and expense breakdown — it’s the evidence for the second point.
Practical note on the first point: gather anything showing what you reported and when. Receipts from a field office visit, copies of pay stubs you submitted, letters you sent. A waiver decision often turns on whether the record shows you did your part.
SSA-634: the option people skip
If you agree you owe the money and you’re not disputing fault, but 50 percent of your check would put you underwater, SSA-634 is the form. It asks SSA to withhold less each month.
If you no longer receive SSI, you can also arrange to make monthly payments directly instead of having them withheld.
This is the least dramatic option and the most commonly overlooked one. It doesn’t erase the debt, but it changes the pace.
Frequently asked questions
Can I file a waiver and an appeal at the same time?
Yes. They answer different questions — one disputes that the overpayment exists, the other accepts it and asks to be excused from repaying. If you’re unsure which applies, filing both preserves your options.
Does filing stop the withholding?
Yes. SSA stops recovering the overpayment while a waiver or reconsideration request is pending. That’s a large part of why filing quickly matters.
What if I already missed the 60 days?
You can still request a waiver — there’s no 60-day limit on SSA-632. For a late appeal, you can ask SSA to accept it with a showing of good cause, but collection may have already started.
Is the 50 percent rate permanent?
It’s the default rate in effect for Title II overpayment notices sent on or after April 25, 2025. This rate has changed more than once in recent years, so check the notice you received — it states the rate being applied to your case.
Where do I get the forms?
All three are on SSA.gov under Forms. SSA-632-BK is the booklet version of the waiver request, and it includes the financial statement pages.
Related reading on this site: How to Set Up a my Social Security Account (Step by Step) covers the reporting step that prevents most of these notices in the first place.
Source: Social Security Administration, Form SSA-632 and EM-25029 REV, "Change to Title II Overpayment Default Benefit Withholding Rate to 50 Percent Withholding" (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html)