Call our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213 (except in the situations described below) if you have any questions about the status of your fee agreement, your claim for fees or the payment of approved fees for services in connection with a proceeding before us. We need to consider the approval of a fee agreement as part of the fee agreement procedure at all levels of the administrative complaint procedure. On May 21, 2020, we announced temporary procedures that will allow applicants to use various methods to sign the Notice of Appointment of representative and an honorary agreement during the current COVID-19 health emergency when the fee agreement is submitted with the new Notice of Appointment. If, during these procedures, we issue an appointment document (e.B. Form SSA 1696) and that the applicant`s signature does not appear to be in pen and ink (for example. B what an electronic signature looks like), we will make three attempts to contact the applicant to verify their identity and confirm the signature. If we verify the identity and signature, we will treat the appointment as usual. If we are unable to reach the applicant and they do not return our call or verify the signature, we will return the documents to the person who submitted them without acknowledging receipt of the appointment. Although the Social Security Act (the Act) does not require specific wording in a fee agreement, it does impose restrictions on the fees that agents can and can charge. Thus, representatives can prepare their own fee agreement and we will only approve the agreement if it meets these legal conditions and no exceptions apply. If someone other than the designated representative signs the fee agreement on behalf of the business or business, the decision-maker must reject the fee agreement because the designated representative did not sign the fee agreement.

When issuing a positive decision (in whole or in part), a decision-maker must approve a fee agreement if the legal requirements of Section 206(a)(2) of the Social Security Act are met and no exceptions apply. The conditions and exceptions are set out in Handbook I-1-2-12 for Hearings, Appeals and Procedural Law (HALLEX). A decision-maker will not take action against a fee agreement if he or she issues an adverse decision or dismissal order. The decision of the SSA on a fee contract is limited to the question of whether the agreement meets the legal requirements of the law and is not otherwise excluded. As part of the fee agreement process, the party requesting a regulatory review must do so within 15 days of receiving notice of the finding approving or refusing the fee agreement or approving the amount of the fees. As part of the fee application process, the party requesting an administrative review must do so within 30 days of the date of notification of fee approval. The representative or applicant submits the agreement to SSA before the date of the first positive decision on which the representative worked. If an applicant or representative has submitted a valid fee agreement and one of the parties dies after a decision-maker has made a positive decision, the decision-maker shall approve the fee agreement if he or she did not do so at the time of the positive decision. The decision-maker notifies the parties, including surviving dependents or the estate of the deceased, of the approval of the fee agreement. The dollar amount shown in the above indents is determined in accordance with Article 206 (a) (2) (A) (ii) (II) of the Social Security Act (Act). This amount may be increased by the Commissioner for Social Security. The increased ceiling shall take effect on the basis of the date on which the decision-maker acts on the basis of the fee agreement, and not on the date on which the fee agreement was signed or submitted, or on the date of the determination or decision on entitlement to benefits.

If the SSA makes a more favourable appeal decision that provides additional benefits, the SSA will take advantage of the additional benefits to recalculate the outstanding benefits and may approve additional costs as part of the fee agreement process, subject to the limits set out in the fee agreement, but not more than 25% of the outstanding benefits or the dollar amount indicated (p.B $6000). The following legal requirements must be met for an agent to receive approval from the SSA to charge and collect fees under the fee agreement procedure: This exception does not apply if the representative(s) who did not sign the fee agreement have waived the collection and collection of a fee. The fee agreement and the procedures for claiming costs are not interchangeable. However, if a representative chooses the fee agreement procedure, but we do not approve the agreement or maintain a rejection of a fee agreement through an administrative review, the representative must file a fee claim if they wish to charge and collect fees. Paragraph 206(a)(2)(A) of the Act provides that the fee agreement procedure applies to a claim for overdue benefits. Workers` compensation and other similar measures are adjustments to the amounts of benefits to which entitlement has already been established. Therefore, the fee agreement procedure does not apply to this class of shares. If the SSA determines that the applicant is mentally unable to manage his or her funds or is in the process of assessing his or her mental capacity, the relevant element will defer notification of the amount of costs under the fee agreement until the SSA has selected a representative beneficiary. In order for SSA to approve a fee agreement in one or more claims that result in more than one positive decision, the applicant or representative must file the agreement with SSA prior to the date of the first positive decision made by SSA after the representative entered the case. remain in force throughout the administrative appeal procedure and all administrative procedures following the pre-trial detention procedure, unless the fee agreement is amended or restricted in the application (see next indent) or a fee is subsequently levied; If the representative submits a fee agreement before the date on which we make a positive decision, we will approve the fee agreement at the time of the positive decision, if the legal requirements for approval are met and there are no exceptions to the fee agreement procedure. Once we have approved the fee agreement, the fees specified in the agreement are the maximum fees that the agent may charge and charge for all services in connection with the claim. For the purpose of calculating a fee under an approved fee agreement in one or more claims that involve more than one positive decision, “outstanding benefits” are the additional benefits resulting from the positive decision made by SSA after the representative was included in the claim.

If the SSA or a federal court approves a representative`s fees on the basis of an approved fee agreement or fee request, the SSA will retain up to 25% of the applicant`s outstanding benefits under Titles II and XVI for the payment of all or part of the authorized costs if the following criteria are met: For the evaluation of the fee agreement, see HALLEX I-1-2-12. An agreement states that the agent`s fees are 25% of the overdue benefits, or $6,000, whichever is lower, except that if 25% of the overdue benefits do not exceed $1,500, the agent`s fee is $1,500. This is an agreement whereby the applicant owes at least $1,500. Such an agreement does not comply with the legal requirements for approval. For competing claims, the maximum approved SSA for both titles under the fee agreement process is 25% of the combined overdue benefits of the two titles or the $6,000 (or any other dollar amount specified by law). The SSA will approve the lower of the two (i.e., 25% of total overdue benefits, or $6,000). SSA will not reject a fee agreement simply because it contains a provision that states: A fee agreement is a written statement signed by the applicant and representatives appointed by the applicants who expect to charge and collect services before us (the Social Security Administration). This written statement describes the fee agreement between the parties. The designated representative must submit the fee agreement for approval prior to the date of the first positive finding or decision (hereinafter, we both commonly refer to as the “Decision”). If the representative does not submit a fee agreement by that date, we will assume that the representative will submit or waive a claim for fees. The applicant has appointed more than one representative, and not all of the appointed representatives have signed a single fee agreement […].