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SSI and insurance settlement

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Stacy50

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California


I receive SSI benefits. I was in an auto accident recently and I may get some money from the other drivers' insurance company for fixing my car. I don't have any bodily injuries.

Will this affect my SSI benefits if I spend the money on something other than car repair ?

On the other hand, what if I actually spend the money on the repair of the car. Will this still affect my SSI benefits ?
 
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sandyclaus

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California


I receive SSI benefits. I was in an auto accident recently and I may get some money from the other drivers' insurance company for fixing my car. I don't have any bodily injuries.

Will this affect my SSI benefits if I spend the money on something other than car repair ?

On the other hand, what if I actually spend the money on the repair of the car. Will this still affect my SSI benefits ?
Generally, if someone gives you an item that can’t be used as -- or used to obtain -- food, clothing, or shelter -- it will not be considered as income. For example, if someone pays a doctor’s bill for you, it won’t be counted as part of your income. Everything else would be considered income.

The insurance settlement would be considered unearned income. The first $60 of infrequent or irregularly received unearned income in a quarter doesn't count towards your income for the purpose of calculating your SSI. The rest DOES count. If the settlement is a significant enough amount, it's entirely possible that it could affect the amount of your SSI benefits.
 

Stacy50

Junior Member
The rest DOES count. If the settlement is a significant enough amount, it's entirely possible that it could affect the amount of your SSI benefits.
Could you, or anybody, be more specific in answering my questions?

I'm driving down the road, somebody hits my car, I file a claim and receive a check for that, and I loose SSI because of that ?
 
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sandyclaus

Senior Member
It's additional income that you wouldn't otherwise have. By your own original post, you are already considering using that money for something OTHER than getting your vehicle repaired. That means it's income that COULD be used to obtain food, clothing, or shelter.

The amount of your income determines your eligibility for SSI and the amount of your benefit. Generally, the more income you receive the lower your SSI benefit. If you have too much income, you are not eligible for SSI benefits. However, not everything you get is considered income and not all income counts in determining your eligibility. SSI considers money or assets from the settlement of a lawsuit or an inheritance to be income in the month you
receive it. If you receive money or assets that are countable as income, such as cash from a lawsuit settlement, then if the amount you receive is more than you monthly SSI benefit check then you will most likely lose your SSI benefit for the month you receive your settlement.

Does that make more sense to you?
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
No. I'm just going to find an attorney.
I disagree with Sandy....

An insurance reimbursement for damages is something that "makes you whole". It replaces an asset that what already counted within your SSI determination. Therefore I do not believe that the reimbursement would be counted as unearned income for SSI purposes. However, I do agree that if you were to bank the money to use for things other than car repair, that things could get murky.
 

commentator

Senior Member
For goodness sake, forget about contacting an attorney and asking them this question. That you are on SSI means you really can't afford that. And why do you want to ask it? No attorney and no one on a web site can give you definitive advice about your own SSI situation. Even if the attorney has specialized knowledge in this particular area of program policy, which is very unlikely, he/she won't have access to your case.

Just pick up the phone and call your contact person at the place where they administer your SSI. They will find out about this money anyway. Therefore, you need to discuss it with them, report it, and let the chips fall. I am of the inclination to believe that it won't affect your SSI, since it is a "one time, make it right" award to allow you to restore yourself to the condition you were already in when approved.

However, it sounds like you're toying with the idea of not reporting it to SSI, not discussing it with them. That's a really bad idea. When you receive SSI, you have given up your financial privacy, and if they find out by some other means that you have received this money and have not reported it to them and it turns out it should have been, then it is SSI fraud. You don't want to go there. Even of you were able to keep your receipt of the money completely off your books and their radar, a simple anonymous phone call from a jealous frien-emy could get you investigated and sanctioned.
 

Onderzoek

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California


I receive SSI benefits. I was in an auto accident recently and I may get some money from the other drivers' insurance company for fixing my car. I don't have any bodily injuries.

Will this affect my SSI benefits if I spend the money on something other than car repair ?

On the other hand, what if I actually spend the money on the repair of the car. Will this still affect my SSI benefits ?
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0501130630
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0500815200


The amount of insurance that is paid to replace or repair a damaged resource is not income in the month received. It is excluded from resources for 9 months. There is policy about comingling it with your other resources (bank accounts).

Any insurance payment for bodily injury, pain and suffering, anything that is not replacement or repair of a damaged resource is income in the month received and a resource the first of the next month.

The insurance company check leaves a paper trail that can be followed and will be discovered by SSA.
 

grday

Junior Member
From what my payee was told by Social Security (Both SSI & SSD), the insurance doesn't have to reported but what is left after 9 months, has to be reported, It doesn't matter what the money is used for. As long as it was spent.
 

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