There are many factors which can affect your workers’ compensation or disability claim. To receive these benefits, individuals must follow a set procedure and qualify for benefits. Unfortunately, just as there are many reasons why a person may be denied benefits for legitimate reasons, there are also situations where claims are denied or erroneously processed due to an administrative mistake.
According to CNN Money, Each year, approximately 14,000 deaths are incorrectly recorded by the Social Security Administration. This means one in every 200 deaths are incorrectly entered, for individuals who are very much alive. How does this impact the lives of the living? The answer is significantly if they are receiving benefits such as Social Security or Social Security Disability.
According to the Inspector General, “Erroneous death entries can lead to benefit termination, cause severe financial hardship and distress to affected individuals, and result in the publication of living individuals’ [personal identifying information] in the [Death Master File],”
Imagine what it is like for those individuals who rely on Social Security Disability benefits for all or most of their income. While this may seem like a problem with an easy fix, after all- the people declared dead are clearly alive to protest, it can take months for this “mistake” to be fixed.
The benefit recipients may also find bank accounts that are closed or other issues due to a false declaration of death. In addition, the publication of personal information can lead to problems with identity theft and other problems.
If you are wondering how this can happen and whether it can happen to you, the answer depends on the person entering the data into the system. Human error occurs in this field just as any other occupation, therefore it can happen to anyone at any time. One typo and you can find yourself facing a slew of problems that can affect your finances for weeks or months. To rectify the problem, you must find out who reported your “death”, obtain a copy of your death certificate and fill out a form to amend the error.