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Casework Corner - Social Security Errors Can Lead to Underpayments

By Chad Manspeaker
District Representative

If you're anything like me, when you sort through your mail every day, you tear up a lot of paperwork without a second look. Credit card offers, junk advertisements, statements and reports from every government agency in the phone book… who has the time to read it all?

But sometimes, paying close attention to your mail pays off. Just ask Robert Ostrander of Topeka.

I first met Mr. Ostrander back in April, when he attended one of Rep. Boyda's Congress on Your Corner events. Unlike most of us, Mr. Ostrander reads his mail closely, and he'd noticed something odd in his benefits statement from the Social Security Administration. As a self-employed worker in 1977, he had properly filed his taxes and paid money into Social Security, but his statement reported that he'd earned zero income that year.

In the weeks following the Topeka Congress on Your Corner, I dug into Mr. Ostrander's case, and it turned out that he was absolutely correct. Not only was his Social Security statement wrong, but as a result of the omission of his 1977 income, his benefits had been miscalculated for years -- and he was eligible for a lump-sum payment of the accumulated benefits plus interest.

When the Social Security Administration refigured Mr. Ostrander's payments, he received a check for over $300.

In light of Mr. Ostrander's case, I'd encourage you to pay close attention to your mail, and if you notice that something has gone awry in a statement from a federal agency, please drop Rep. Boyda's office a line. We'll be happy to help you clear things up.



Chad Manspeaker, left, a district representative with Congresswoman Boyda's Topeka office, helped Robert Ostrander of Topeka, right, receive over $300 in back payments from the Social Security Administration.