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Notes

20 C.F.R. §§ 404.630–404.633

4 sections in range

§404.630. Use of date of written statement as filing date.

20 C.F.R. § 404.630

If a written statement, such as a letter, indicating your intent to claim benefits either for yourself or for another person is filed with us under the rules stated in § 404.614, we will use the filing date of the written statement as the filing date of the application, if all of the following requirements are met:
(a)
The statement indicates an intent to claim benefits.
(b)
The statement is signed by the claimant, the claimant's spouse, or a person described in § 404.612. If the claimant, the claimant's spouse, or a person described in § 404.612 telephones us and advises us of his or her intent to file a claim but cannot file an application before the end of the month, we will prepare and sign a written statement if it is necessary to prevent the loss of benefits. If the claimant, the claimant's spouse, or a person described in § 404.612 contacts us through the Internet by completing and transmitting the Personal Identification Information data on the Internet Social Security Benefit Application to us, we will use the date of the transmission as the filing date if it is necessary to prevent the loss of benefits.
(c)
The claimant files an application with us on an application form as described in § 404.611, or one is filed for the claimant by a person described in § 404.612, within 6 months after the date of a notice we will send advising of the need to file an application. We will send the notice to the claimant. However, if it is clear from the information we receive that the claimant is a minor or is mentally incompetent, we will send the notice to the person who submitted the written statement.
(d)
The claimant is alive when the application is filed; or if the claimant has died after the written statement was filed, an application is filed—
(1)
By or for a person who would be eligible to receive benefits on the deceased's earnings record;
(2)
By a person acting for the deceased's estate; or
(3)
If the statement was filed with a hospital under § 404.632, by the hospital if—
(i)
No person described in paragraph (d) (1) or (2) of this section can be located; or
(ii)
A person described in paragraphs (d) (1) or (2) of this section is located but refuses or fails to file the application unless the refusal or failure to file is because it would be harmful to the deceased person or the deceased's estate.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, as amended at 71 FR 24814, Apr. 27, 2006]

Authority

Authority: Secs. 202(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 205(a), 216(i)(2), 223(b), 228(a), and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 405(a), 416(i)(2), 423(b), 428(a), and 902(a)(5)).

Source

Source: 44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, as amended at 71 FR 24814, Apr. 27, 2006]

§404.631. Statements filed with the Railroad Retirement Board.

20 C.F.R. § 404.631

A written statement filed with the Railroad Retirement Board will be considered a written statement filed with us under the rules in § 404.630 if—
(a)
The statement indicates an intent to claim any payments under the Railroad Retirement Act;
(b)
It bears the signature of the person filing the statement;
(c)
No application is filed with the Railroad Retirement Board on one of its forms. If an application has been filed, we will use the date of filing of that application as determined by the Railroad Retirement Board (see § 404.614(b)(3)); and
(d)
The statement is sent to us by the Railroad Retirement Board.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Authority: Secs. 202(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 205(a), 216(i)(2), 223(b), 228(a), and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 405(a), 416(i)(2), 423(b), 428(a), and 902(a)(5)).

Source

Source: 44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

§404.632. Statements filed with a hospital.

20 C.F.R. § 404.632

A statement (generally a hospital admission form) filed with a hospital may serve as a written statement under § 404.630 if the requirements of this section are met. The statement will be considered filed with us as of the date it was filed with the hospital and will serve to protect entitlement to benefits. A statement filed with a hospital by you or some other person for you requesting or indicating an intent to claim benefits will be considered a written statement filed with us and § 404.630 will apply to it if—
(a)
You are a patient in the hospital;
(b)
The hospital provides services covered by hospital insurance under the Medicare program;
(c)
An application has not already been filed; and
(d)
The statement is sent to us.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Authority

Authority: Secs. 202(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 205(a), 216(i)(2), 223(b), 228(a), and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 405(a), 416(i)(2), 423(b), 428(a), and 902(a)(5)).

Source

Source: 44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

§404.633. Deemed filing date in a case of misinformation.

20 C.F.R. § 404.633

(a)
General. You may have considered applying for monthly benefits for yourself or for another person, and you may have contacted us in writing, by telephone or in person to inquire about filing an application for these benefits. It is possible that in responding to your inquiry, we may have given you misinformation about your eligibility for such benefits, or the eligibility of the person on whose behalf you were considering applying for benefits, which caused you not to file an application at that time. If this happened, and later an application for such benefits is filed with us, we may establish an earlier filing date under this section.
(b)
Deemed filing date of an application based on misinformation. Subject to the requirements and conditions in paragraphs (c) through (g) of this section, we may establish a deemed filing date of an application for monthly benefits under the following provisions.
(1)
(i)
If we determine that you failed to apply for monthly benefits for yourself because we gave you misinformation about your eligibility for such benefits, we will deem an application for such benefits to have been filed with us on the later of—
(A)
The date on which the misinformation was provided to you; or
(B)
The date on which you met all of the requirements for entitlement to such benefits, other than the requirement of filing an application.
(ii)
Before we may establish a deemed filing date of an application for benefits for you under paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, you or a person described in § 404.612 must file an application for such benefits. If you die before an application for the benefits is filed with us, we will consider establishing a deemed filing date of an application for such benefits only if an application for the benefits is filed with us by a person who would be qualified to receive any benefits due you.
(2)
(i)
If you had authority under § 404.612 to sign an application for benefits for another person, and we determine that you failed to apply for monthly benefits for that person because we gave you misinformation about that person's eligibility for such benefits, we will deem an application for such benefits to have been filed with us on the later of—
(A)
The date on which the misinformation was provided to you; or
(B)
The date on which the person met all of the requirements for entitlement to such benefits, other than the requirement of filing an application.
(ii)
Before we may establish a deemed filing date of an application for benefits for the person under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, you, such person, or another person described in § 404.612 must file an application for such benefits. If the person referred to in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section dies before an application for the benefits is filed with us, we will consider establishing a deemed filing date of an application for such benefits only if an application for the benefits is filed with us by a person who would be qualified to receive any benefits due the deceased person.
(c)
Requirements concerning the misinformation. We apply the following requirements for purposes of paragraph (b) of this section.
(1)
The misinformation must have been provided to you by one of our employees while he or she was acting in his or her official capacity as our employee. For purposes of this section, an employee includes an officer of SSA.
(2)
Misinformation is information which we consider to be incorrect, misleading, or incomplete in view of the facts which you gave to the employee, or of which the employee was aware or should have been aware, regarding your particular circumstances, or the particular circumstances of the person referred to in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section. In addition, for us to find that the information you received was incomplete, the employee must have failed to provide you with the appropriate, additional information which he or she would be required to provide in carrying out his or her official duties.
(3)
The misinformation may have been provided to you orally or in writing.
(4)
The misinformation must have been provided to you in response to a specific request by you to us for information about your eligibility for benefits or the eligibility for benefits of the person referred to in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section for which you were considering filing an application.
(d)
Evidence that misinformation was provided. We will consider the following evidence in making a determination under paragraph (b) of this section.
(1)
Preferred evidence. Preferred evidence is written evidence which relates directly to your inquiry about your eligibility for benefits or the eligibility of another person and which shows that we gave you misinformation which caused you not to file an application. Preferred evidence includes, but is not limited to, the following—
(i)
A notice, letter or other document which was issued by us and addressed to you; or
(ii)
Our record of your telephone call, letter or in-person contact.
(2)
Other evidence. In the absence of preferred evidence, we will consider other evidence, including your statements about the alleged misinformation, to determine whether we gave you misinformation which caused you not to file an application. We will not find that we gave you misinformation, however, based solely on your statements. Other evidence which you provide or which we obtain must support your statements. Evidence which we will consider includes, but is not limited to, the following—
(i)
Your statements about the alleged misinformation, including statements about—
(A)
The date and time of the alleged contact(s);
(B)
How the contact was made, e.g., by telephone or in person;
(C)
The reason(s) the contact was made;
(D)
Who gave the misinformation; and
(E)
The questions you asked and the facts you gave us, and the questions we asked and the information we gave you, at the time of the contact;
(ii)
Statements from others who were present when you were given the alleged misinformation, e.g., a neighbor who accompanied you to our office;
(iii)
If you can identify the employee or the employee can recall your inquiry about benefits—
(A)
Statements from the employee concerning the alleged contact, including statements about the questions you asked, the facts you gave, the questions the employee asked, and the information provided to you at the time of the alleged contact; and
(B)
Our assessment of the likelihood that the employee provided the alleged misinformation;
(iv)
An evaluation of the credibility and the validity of your allegations in conjunction with other relevant information; and
(v)
Any other information regarding your alleged contact.
(e)
Information which does not constitute satisfactory proof that misinformation was given. Certain kinds of information will not be considered satisfactory proof that we gave you misinformation which caused you not to file an application. Examples of such information include—
(1)
General informational pamphlets that we issue to provide basic program information;
(2)
The Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement that is based on an individual's reported and projected earnings and is an estimate which can be requested at any time;
(3)
General information which we review or prepare but which is disseminated by the media, e.g., radio, television, magazines, and newspapers; and
(4)
Information provided by other governmental agencies, e.g., the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, State unemployment agencies, and State and local governments.
(f)
Claim for benefits based on misinformation. You may make a claim for benefits based on misinformation at any time. Your claim must contain information that will enable us to determine if we did provide misinformation to you about your eligibility for benefits, or the eligibility of a person on whose behalf you were considering applying for benefits, which caused you not to file an application for the benefits. Specifically, your claim must be in writing and it must explain what information was provided; how, when and where it was provided and by whom; and why the information caused you not to file an application. If you give us this information, we will make a determination on such a claim for benefits if all of the following conditions are also met.
(1)
An application for the benefits described in paragraph (b)(1)(i) or (b)(2)(i) of this section is filed with us by someone described in paragraph (b)(1)(ii) or (b)(2)(ii) of this section, as appropriate. The application must be filed after the alleged misinformation was provided. This application may be—
(i)
An application on which we have made a previous final determination or decision awarding the benefits, but only if the claimant continues to be entitled to benefits based on that application;
(ii)
An application on which we have made a previous final determination or decision denying the benefits, but only if such determination or decision is reopened under § 404.988; or
(iii)
A new application on which we have not made a final determination or decision.
(2)
The establishment of a deemed filing date of an application for benefits based on misinformation could result in the claimant becoming entitled to benefits or to additional benefits.
(3)
We have not made a previous final determination or decision to which you were a party on a claim for benefits based on alleged misinformation involving the same facts and issues. This provision does not apply, however, if the final determination or decision may be reopened under § 404.988.
(g)
Effective date. This section applies only to misinformation which we provided after December 1982. In addition, this section is effective only for benefits payable for months after December 1982.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[59 FR 44924, Aug. 31, 1994]

Authority

Authority: Secs. 202(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 205(a), 216(i)(2), 223(b), 228(a), and 702(a)(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i), (j), (o), (p), and (r), 405(a), 416(i)(2), 423(b), 428(a), and 902(a)(5)).

Source

Source: 44 FR 37209, June 26, 1979, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[59 FR 44924, Aug. 31, 1994]