Can't reach Social Security Administration? Claimyr connects you to a live SSA agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the SSA
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the SSA drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Update: I took everyone's advice and carefully reviewed my earnings record year by year. Everything looks correct - all my factory jobs are showing the right earnings with SS taxes paid. I'm still planning to call SSA about removing that warning message, but I feel much better knowing my actual work history is correctly recorded. Thanks for all the helpful information!
Glad to hear your earnings record is accurate! One additional tip: when you do speak with SSA, ask them to add a note to your file confirming you have no non-covered employment. This can be helpful when you eventually apply for benefits, as it creates documentation that the WEP/GPO warning was investigated and determined to be incorrect. It may save you some headaches down the road.
I'm dealing with something similar right now! I've been working in private sector IT for 15 years and suddenly saw the WEP/GPO warning appear in my account last week. Like you, I've never worked any government or non-covered jobs. It's reassuring to see from the other comments that this seems to be a widespread system glitch. I checked my earnings record and everything looks correct with all my SS contributions properly recorded. Still planning to call them when I can get through, but at least now I know I'm not alone in this situation. Thanks for posting about it!
Welcome to the club! It's definitely frustrating to see that warning pop up when you know it doesn't apply to you. Based on what others have shared here, it sounds like this system glitch is affecting a lot of people since the January software update. Since your earnings record shows all your SS contributions correctly, you should be in good shape. When you do call SSA, you might want to mention that this seems to be a known issue - it could help them resolve it faster. Hope you have better luck getting through to them than some folks here have had!
Join the conversation
This entire discussion has been eye-opening! As someone who's been dreading the complexity of coordinating Social Security with my freelance graphic design business, seeing all these detailed experiences and advice is incredibly reassuring. What strikes me most is how proactive everyone recommends being with SSA rather than just hoping for the best. I've been guilty of the "ostrich approach" - just avoiding thinking about it because it seemed so complicated. But reading about people getting hit with $9,400+ overpayment bills really drives home that ignorance isn't bliss when it comes to Social Security. I'm particularly grateful for the clarification on net vs. gross income for the earnings test. As a freelancer, my business expenses are substantial (software subscriptions, equipment, home office, etc.), so knowing that reduces my countable income for SSA purposes is huge. The spreadsheet tracking idea with different categories of work time is brilliant - I never would have thought to track administrative and marketing time separately, but you're absolutely right that it all counts toward the monthly hours. I'm setting up my tracking system this weekend. One follow-up question: for those of you who've actually called SSA to report estimated earnings in advance - do they give you anything in writing confirming the conversation? I'm thinking it might be smart to document these interactions in case there are any disputes later about what was communicated. Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences. This community is such a valuable resource for navigating these complex issues!
Welcome to the community! I'm so glad you found this thread helpful - I was feeling just as overwhelmed when I first started researching all this. The "ostrich approach" is so tempting because the rules really are incredibly complex, but you're absolutely right that being proactive is crucial. Regarding your question about documentation from SSA calls - this is really important! When I called to report my estimated earnings, I made sure to ask the representative for a confirmation number for the call and wrote down their name, the date, and exactly what we discussed. Some people also follow up with a written letter to SSA summarizing the conversation and asking them to contact you if their understanding differs from yours. You can also request that they make notes in your file about the conversation. They don't typically send written confirmations for these types of calls, but having that call reference number and detailed notes on your end creates a paper trail. I keep a simple log of all my SSA interactions - date, method (phone/in-person), representative name if available, summary of discussion, and any reference numbers. One tip I learned from my tax preparer: when you do file your tax return, if your actual earnings ended up different from what you estimated in your SSA call, you might want to call them again to give them the final numbers. This can sometimes prevent delays in their processing and shows continued good faith effort to keep them informed. The business expense deductions really do make a significant difference for freelancers and consultants. Just make sure you're keeping detailed records of all those expenses since you'll need them both for tax purposes and potentially for SSA if they ever have questions about your income calculations. @b90fff3c9ea9 Good luck with setting up your tracking system! It feels overwhelming at first but becomes second nature pretty quickly.
As a newer member here, I want to thank everyone for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm 62 and was planning to start Social Security early while continuing my part-time bookkeeping practice, but I had no idea about the complexity of the hours vs. earnings tests for self-employed people. Reading through all these experiences, I'm realizing I need to completely rethink my approach. I was focused solely on staying under the annual earnings limit, but the 45-hour monthly threshold and the "substantial services" criteria add whole new layers of complexity I hadn't considered. A few observations from lurking in this community: 1. The documentation and tracking suggestions here are gold - I'm definitely implementing the spreadsheet approach with separate columns for different types of work activities. 2. The proactive communication with SSA seems crucial. Instead of waiting to see what happens at tax time, I'll be calling them with my estimates upfront. 3. The distinction between billable hours and total business hours is something I completely missed. Time spent on invoicing, bookkeeping for my own business, and client development all counts - that could easily push me over 45 hours some months. For those dealing with seasonal variations, I'm wondering if it makes sense to actually plan for losing benefits during busy months rather than trying to artificially constrain work during peak periods? Seems like the math might work out better to have a few high-earning months without benefits rather than turning away business all year to stay under limits. This community has been incredibly helpful in understanding what I'm actually getting into. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences!
Join the conversation
Just wanted to add my experience - I'm a retired postal worker and got hit with the same scam email about 2 weeks ago. What really bothered me was how detailed it was - they knew I was affected by WEP and even mentioned my approximate benefit reduction amount. I called SSA directly (waited 3 hours but finally got through) and the agent confirmed it was a scam. She said they've had a huge uptick in these targeted phishing attempts against public service retirees in the last few months. The scammers are definitely doing their homework to make these emails look legitimate. The agent also told me that when ANY major legislation affecting WEP/GPO passes, SSA will send multiple official paper notices by mail before any changes take effect. They would never rely on email for something this significant. Stay vigilant everyone!
This is really helpful information - thank you for sharing your experience and for actually calling SSA to verify! It's scary how much detail these scammers have about our situations. I'm definitely going to be more careful about any emails claiming to be from SSA, especially ones that seem to know specific details about my benefits. The 3-hour wait time you mentioned is exactly why these scams work so well - we're all desperate to avoid those endless hold times!
Wow, thank you everyone for the quick responses - I feel so much better knowing this was a scam! I was getting my hopes up that the Fairness Act had finally passed. I've already forwarded the email to oig.dsc@ssa.gov and changed my MySocialSecurity password as recommended. It's really disturbing how these scammers are specifically targeting us public service retirees who are already struggling with WEP/GPO reductions. They clearly know exactly what buttons to push to get our attention. I'm going to warn my former colleagues at the school district about this scam since they're probably being targeted too. Does anyone know if there are any legitimate updates we can sign up for to track the actual progress of the Social Security Fairness Act? I'd love to stay informed without falling for more scams like this.
For tracking legitimate updates on the Social Security Fairness Act, I'd recommend checking congress.gov directly - you can search for H.R.82 and set up email alerts for any action on the bill. The National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) and other public employee organizations also send out legitimate updates when there's real movement on WEP/GPO legislation. Just be super careful about any emails that ask you to take immediate action or provide personal info - legitimate advocacy groups will never do that!
Join the conversation
UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at SSA! The $150 was indeed a one-time adjustment related to my earnings record from 2023. Apparently when they processed my tax return information, they found I was eligible for a slightly higher benefit for part of the year. My husband didn't get one because his benefit amount wasn't affected by the earnings update. Mystery solved! And yes, my regular payment came through on schedule too. Thanks everyone for your help!
Great to hear you got it sorted out! That's exactly what happened with mine too. Glad it wasn't a mistake and you get to keep the money!
Thanks for sharing the update! This is really helpful information for others who might experience the same thing. I'm dealing with a similar situation with my elderly mother's benefits - she got an unexpected payment last month and we've been trying to figure out what it was for. Based on your experience, I'll suggest she check if it might be related to her 2023 tax information. It's reassuring to know these adjustments do happen and aren't necessarily errors. Glad you were able to get through to someone at SSA - that's half the battle these days!
That's so helpful that you shared this! I'm actually new to navigating all this Social Security stuff (just started receiving benefits a few months ago) and posts like this really help me understand what's normal vs. what to worry about. It sounds like these earnings-related adjustments are more common than I realized. Hopefully your mother's situation gets resolved just as smoothly - it's great that there are people in this community willing to share their experiences to help others!
Mary Bates
what about the max family benefit thing? isn't there a limit on how much one family can get from one worker's record? might be something to check into
0 coins
Mason Lopez
•Good point about the Family Maximum Benefit! This caps the total amount that can be paid on one worker's earnings record. It typically ranges from 150% to 180% of the deceased worker's benefit amount. In this case, since it sounds like only the son is currently receiving benefits on the father's record, they're probably well under the family maximum. If the mother were to eventually qualify for widow's benefits (if her current marriage ends), then the family maximum might come into play.
0 coins
Marcelle Drum
I'm a case worker at a disability advocacy organization, and I see families in your situation frequently. A few additional points that might help: 1. **Documentation is everything** - Start gathering comprehensive medical records NOW, including any IEPs or 504 plans from school, therapy records, and psychiatric evaluations. The more complete your file, the smoother the process. 2. **Consider getting a disability attorney consultation** - Many work on contingency (they only get paid if you win), and they can help navigate the appeals process if needed. For DAC cases, they're often worth it given the complexity. 3. **Timeline is critical** - As others mentioned, apply 3-4 months before his 18th birthday. But also be aware that if there's ANY gap in benefits, it can create complications. The goal is seamless transition from childhood survivor benefits to DAC benefits. 4. **Work activity matters** - Your son CAN work part-time while on DAC benefits, but keep detailed records of hours and earnings. The SGA limit for 2025 is $1,550/month, but there are work incentives that allow him to earn more in some situations. 5. **College accommodations help your case** - If he needs disability services at college, that documentation actually SUPPORTS his disability claim rather than hurting it. The system is frustrating, but don't give up! Most families eventually get approved with persistence.
0 coins
Harmony Love
•This is incredibly helpful information! As someone new to navigating disability benefits, I'm wondering - when you mention getting a disability attorney consultation, at what point should families typically reach out? Should we wait to see if the initial application gets denied, or is it worth consulting with one before even applying for DAC benefits? Also, do these attorneys typically handle both the SSA disability determination AND any potential appeals, or do you need different specialists for different parts of the process?
0 coins