WFSB Channel 3Couple deals with Social Security overpayment nightmare

Retirement is supposed to be a time of relaxation, but a Plainville woman found that leaving work created a whole new set of hassles when the Social Security Administration overpaid her.

Patricia Grant and her husband, Bill Grant, said trying to give back an overpayment to the federal government turned into a months-long struggle that didn't get solved until the I-Team got involved.

The federal government said the error happened because this was a particularly complex case. But the couple who contacted the I-Team said it wasn't too complex for them to figure out, they just wish the government had a better grasp of their own rules.

Bill Grant is a man who's good with details. When his wife was getting ready to retire, he did the research and figured out her social security payment.

"I had done mine the year before and I was right on the dime for what I was going to get, so I did hers and I figured I'd be accurate," he said.

Because she spent most of her career working in a school, her teacher pension meant she was only entitled to a small social security payment. Her husband calculated it at $120 a month. But then, on one of her last days working as a school counselor, she got a call from Social Security that said she'd be getting $800 a month.

"I knew they were totally wrong, and all I'm thinking is I have to get this straightened out," he said.

So the couple started calling Social Security. When that didn't work, Grant started making visits to the Social Security office in New Britain. He went a half-dozen times, spending an average of an hour on each visit until finally Social Security determined the payment should be $114 a month like he had calculated. 

Grant saved the two $854 payments his wife received. On Nov, 11, he wrote Social Security a check.

But nothing happened. Thanksgiving came and Social Security still hadn't cashed the check.

Nervous because the year was winding down, Grant knew a 1099 tax form would be coming. He didn't want to pay taxes on the $2,088 that he knew he had to pay back.

During a return trip to the Social Security office, he was told to cancel the check and issue a new one. He paid the $20 cancellation fee on the check and wrote a new one. He even delivered the new check in person.

Christmas passed, so did the new year. The check never cleared. Finally, he got through to a supervisor who told him it takes on average two to three months for the government to cash a check.

The couple's 1099 tax form of course included the money he'd been trying to give back for months. The couple was furious. Their taxes would mean hundreds more out of pocket. They asked for a new 1099, but they were told it would be at least a month just to decide whether to print a new one.

So, the couple turned to the I-Team. We called Social Security. Its spokesman Steve Richardson told us two different laws complicated the case.

Because Patricia Grant worked several years in the private sector and many years while covered by the teacher retirement plan, her Social Security benefits were reduced by both the windfall elimination act and the government pension offset act.

Richardson said the combination of the two made this an especially tough case. But, the I-Team pointed out, it wasn't tough for Grant. He nailed the monthly amount without an issue. It was social security who said he was wrong.  We also asked why it took them months to cash his check and why a new 1099 wasn't issued.

Richardson said "their application was not processed in a timely manner. We apologize for not processing it or negotiating his repayment in a reasonable time."

Just two days after the I-Team started asking questions, the Grants got a new 1099.

With the issue finally behind them, the couple can focus on the more pressing issues of retirement, like beating their niece in a hotly contested game of Words With Friends.

But there's still a key question. What if the Grants weren't so honest and didn't fight so hard to get their monthly payment reduced?

Social Security did tell the I-Team that of their 55 million customers this was a rare snag, but they couldn't dispute that it sometimes takes up to three months just for a check to get cashed.

They suggested that anyone with a complex situation to visit an office for help applying, but the Grants did that six times and still didn't get the issue resolved until we got involved.

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