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
Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I talked with my husband about all this, and we're going to look up his exact pension amount and do that GPO calculation to see what we're dealing with. Sounds like if the Social Security Fairness Act ever passes, we'd be in much better shape, but we shouldn't count on that happening anytime soon. I guess I'll go ahead and file for my benefits when I turn 70 in December, and then we can apply for his spousal benefits after that. At least the survivor benefits might help him somewhat if I pass away first, even with the GPO reduction.
That sounds like a good plan. One more thing - make sure your husband requests a Social Security Statement (Form SSA-7004) to verify his exact number of credits. Sometimes there are earnings that weren't properly recorded, especially from long ago. It's possible he might be closer to 40 quarters than you think if there were any reporting errors. And yes, filing at 70 maximizes your benefit, which is especially important since it also maximizes any potential survivor benefits for your husband later.
I heard you need 10 years of work to get ANY SS benefits at all, so if he's only got 29 quarters (about 7 years) doesn't that mean he's completely out of luck for his OWN benefit regardless of this GPO stuff? That's what happened to my aunt.
You're correct. To qualify for retirement benefits based on your own work record, you need 40 quarters (10 years) of covered employment. With 29 quarters, the original poster's husband doesn't qualify for his own retirement benefit. However, the 40-quarter requirement doesn't apply to spousal or survivor benefits. You can receive those regardless of your own work history, though as we've discussed, the GPO will reduce them if you receive a non-covered government pension.
Join the conversation
Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! This clears up a lot of my confusion. I'm going to take that consulting job and not worry about an earnings limit. I'll talk to my tax person about possibly making estimated quarterly payments to cover the extra income and maybe adjusting my withholding on my Social Security benefits too. Really appreciate all the explanations!
That sounds like a good plan! Talking to a tax professional is definitely wise in this situation. If you're doing consulting work, you might also want to ask about potential deductions for business expenses that could help offset some of the tax impact. Enjoy your consulting work!
I just wanted to apologize for my earlier response. I was confusing the rules before and after FRA. My husband was still 6 months away from his FRA when he went back to work, which is why he saw a reduction. Thank you to everyone who provided the correct information!
we all get confused with these complicated rules! the SSA website makes it so hard to understand anything!!
Join the conversation
I think everyone's making this too complicated lol. Here's the simple version: if he was on SSDI when he died, that's the same amount as full retirement. SSDI payments aren't reduced like early retirement is. So you'd get that full amount after GPO repeal (if it happens). But honestly don't get your hopes up about the repeal, they've been promising that forever.
Thanks for putting it simply! So SSDI is the same as what he would've gotten at full retirement age? That makes sense. And yeah, I'm not counting on the repeal, but it would be nice!
Has anyone heard when the House will vote on the GPO repeal? My pension from teaching for 31 years is eating almost ALL of my late husband's SS benefit and I'm struggling to make ends meet!!
The House schedule isn't certain yet. The Senate passed it as part of the Social Security Fairness Act, but there's still significant legislative process ahead. I'd recommend following the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) website as they post regular updates on the progress of the GPO/WEP repeal efforts.
Join the conversation
Update: I took the advice about requesting critical case status and brought documentation about my financial hardship to the local office yesterday. The claims specialist was actually very helpful and submitted the request. She said it should speed things up considerably. Also got confirmation that I'll receive full back pay once it's resolved. Thanks everyone for your suggestions - this has been so stressful!
Andre Dupont
does anyone know when the changes actually start??? i heard some people saying next month but others said it could be YEARS before we see a penny!!!!!
0 coins
AstroAdventurer
•Implementation schedules vary by provision and are specifically outlined in the legislation. Some aspects may take effect within months, while others could be phased in over several years. This is typical for major Social Security changes to minimize budget impacts. The SSA will need time to update their systems and processes to accommodate these changes. Your best bet is to periodically check the official SSA website for updates specific to GPO/WEP changes, as they'll post implementation timelines once they're finalized.
0 coins
Jamal Wilson
I think I'm affected by this too but I'm getting widows benefits and my deceased husband's fire pension. But I've always gotten both full amounts? Now I'm confused if I should be worried about reductions or happy about increases lol
0 coins
GalacticGuru
•If you're receiving both your husband's fire pension AND full Social Security survivor benefits without reduction, it's possible your situation is different. Some pensions are from jobs that were covered by both their pension system AND Social Security (meaning Social Security taxes were paid), which wouldn't trigger GPO. Or there could be other exceptions applying in your case. I'd recommend verifying with SSA that you're not subject to GPO rather than assuming the new law will change anything for you.
0 coins