Fault determination—whether you, the agency, or both contributed to the overpayment—directly shapes your waiver options: full government fault often leads to full forgiveness, shared fault might lead to partial waiver, and your-fault-only typically denies the request unless hardship is severe. Understanding how the agency defines fault in your situation and building documentation that supports your framing is crucial. An overpayment caused by you misreporting income is harder to waive than one caused by the agency failing to process a change you reported.
When a benefits agency determines a household received more assistance than it was entitled to, it issues an overpayment claim, but households may qualify for a waiver of repayment if the overpayment was caused by agency error and repayment would cause financial hardship.
Successfully pursuing a waiver requires demonstrating that the household was not at fault and cannot afford repayment without serious hardship, and AI can help you draft a compelling waiver request letter, organize supporting financial documents, and understand the specific fault standards your state applies.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
Explore related journeys or tell Peri what you're working through.