Social Security Overpaid North Texas Woman By $41K, Now She ‘Must Offset Benefit Payments'

Delfina Prisock's world came crashing down when she received a notice from the Social Security Administration in May 2023 informing her that she needed to pay $41,514.00, which was paid to her in an overpayment.

"We paid you $87.250.00 for June 2020 through April 2023. Since we should have paid you $45,736.00...we paid you $41,514.00 more than you were due," the letter stated, per Fox News. "I turn on the light to make sure I'm reading correctly and my heart just went like...I felt like it dropped to the floor," she told Fox News. 

The notice mentioned that the administration must offset her benefit payments due to her receipt of a government pension. The Social Security Administration will pay her a monthly check of  $1,128.20 until they start to collect the overpayment. The letter talked about how the administration reduces social security benefits to widows and widowers if they already receive a government pension based on their work. She currently receives no benefits from her late ex-husband as she gets a Teacher Retirement System pension. 

As per Prisock, the administration was aware of this when she applied for the benefits, and her file has all the details that they needed to avoid this mistake. In the interview with Fox, she explains she depends on her social security for her house payments, car payments, and everyday bills. "I can't sleep. It's just affecting me in a lot of ways. My migraines have gotten more consistent. I just do not understand how they can do this to people," she adds.

Prisock reportedly contacted the administration about the issues and an employee admitted that it was a mistake on their part. Prisock said that the woman with whom she had a word regarding this, said that it was her mistake. "I'm human it was during Covid," the woman told Prisock to which she replied, "'I'm human as well,' I said, and I didn't make the mistake."

After Prisock was sent the notice, she launched many appeals regarding the repayment. However, her requests to cancel the repayments were initially denied. Almost a month later, Prisock finally revealed to KDFW that she no longer needed to pay the money back. The widow reportedly got letters that mentioned that both her normal as well as her survivorship benefits were set to be restored along with backpay for the time that this was under scrutiny. "Nobody took responsibility for their part. How can they sleep at night?" she told the outlet at the time.

According to the National Association of Plan Advisors, around $2 billion was paid in overpayments in 2022 which Social Security failed to claw back. The report shed light on the fact that many people who are on fixed incomes have failed to pay the money back. Many of these overpayments were due to errors or lapses on the SSA's part. As per the SSA, overpayments can happen in several cases including when a recipient's income is more than what is allowed, a recipient's living situation or marital status changes, or if the recipient has more resources than the permitted limit.