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
my condolences to ur mom. i went thru something similar when my husband passed in 2020. I was already 79 at that time and had no problems getting survivors benefits. they actually automatically switched me over when they processed the death certificate. maybe there's something unusual about your mom's situation? did she get any kind of special civil service pension or railroad benefits? those can complicate things with the WEP/GPO rules. or maybe your stepdad had been married before and there's an ex-spouse claiming on his record?
Ex-spouses don't affect current spouse survivor benefits at all - both can receive full benefits without reduction. And even with WEP/GPO, she'd still be eligible for survivor benefits, just potentially reduced. The agent simply gave incorrect information. This happens far too often with SSA representatives who aren't properly trained on all the rules.
Update: I want to thank everyone for the advice. We called SSA again this morning (took almost 2 hours to get through!) and spoke with a different agent who confirmed mom IS eligible for survivor benefits. They're processing the change now and said she'll receive her husband's higher benefit amount going forward plus 12 months retroactive benefits. The agent couldn't explain why she was given incorrect information before, but we're just relieved it's being fixed now. We're also scheduling an in-person appointment to make sure everything is processed correctly. Thanks again for all your help - this will make such a difference for her financially!
Excellent news! I'm very glad to hear this is being resolved. That retroactive payment should be substantial and will help make up for some of the lost time. Make sure at the in-person appointment they verify that the benefit amount is correct - she should receive 100% of what your stepfather was receiving, not a reduced amount. Congratulations on getting this fixed.
Join the conversation
OMG I've been trying to figure out this exact same thing!!! I'm 66 and so confused about when to take my SS. My husband wants me to wait but I don't think he understands that we might not live long enough for it to matter? Both my parents died at 78 so I'm really worried about waiting too long. Did any of those calculators people mentioned actually help you make a decision yet???
One consideration for married couples is that the lower-earning spouse will inherit the higher-earning spouse's benefit amount when they pass away. So if your husband's benefit is significantly higher than yours, it might make more sense for him to delay (to maximize what you'd get as a survivor) and for you to claim earlier. This is called a "split strategy" and it can be very effective.
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! I checked out the Open Social Security calculator and it was really enlightening. Based on my family history and current financial needs, I've decided to go ahead and claim my benefits now at FRA. Having that steady $2,750 coming in monthly will ease my immediate financial concerns and let me leave my investments alone during this volatile market. If I end up being the family outlier who lives past 85, I might slightly regret this decision, but the peace of mind now seems worth it. Really appreciate all the perspectives here - gave me a lot to think about beyond just the basic break-even calculation!
Join the conversation
Social security is so confusing! I thought retirement age was 65 but now its like 67 for most people? the whole system needs to be simplified
You're right that it can be confusing. Full Retirement Age (FRA) varies based on your birth year. For those born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67. For those born between 1943 and 1954, it's 66. And for those born between 1955 and 1959, it increases gradually from 66 and 2 months to 66 and 10 months. The original 65 age hasn't applied to anyone retiring in quite some time.
One more thing I forgot to mention - if you DO get an overpayment notice (I HOPE YOU DON'T!), immediately file for a waiver! Even if you know you might have gone over slightly. The waiver process buys you time to gather MORE evidence about your work activity. When I dealt with this, I eventually had to PHYSICALLY GO to the local office with printouts of EVERYTHING - invoices, bank statements with deposits highlighted, my work calendar. The system is SO BROKEN for self-employed people!!!
That's a great tip about requesting a waiver - I wouldn't have thought of that. I'm taking detailed notes on everything you and others have suggested. I really hope to avoid that scenario, but it's good to be prepared just in case.
Join the conversation
has anyone actually received increased benefits from this GPO change yet? my mom has a teacher pension and we applied in february but her check hasnt changed
The systems at SSA are still being updated to fully implement the GPO changes. Many people who applied early in the year are seeing delayed processing. If your mom applied in February, I recommend checking the status of her application online through her mySocialSecurity account or contacting SSA directly. Some payments may also include retroactive adjustments when they finally process.
Update: We submitted the application yesterday and put the current date as the start date. The claims specialist said they will determine if any retroactive benefits apply based on the new law. She also confirmed that his benefit will increase gradually over the next few years as the GPO phases out, starting with 20% this year. Thank you all for your helpful advice!
Glad it worked out! Let us know when he gets his first payment and how much it ends up being. Curious about the actual amounts with the new changes
That's great news! You did exactly the right thing. And yes, the benefit will increase by about 20% of the original GPO reduction each year until fully phased out in 2029. Congratulations on maximizing your household's Social Security benefits!
Benjamin Carter
I'm so confused about all this. Is WEP the same as GPO? My husband has a pension from his county job but I worked regular jobs all my life. Will my SS be reduced too? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just trying to figure this all out before we retire next year.
0 coins
Maya Lewis
•Not a dumb question at all! WEP and GPO are different: - WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) reduces your OWN Social Security benefit if you receive a pension from work where you didn't pay Social Security taxes. - GPO (Government Pension Offset) reduces spouse/widow(er) benefits if YOU receive a government pension from non-covered work. Since you worked in Social Security-covered jobs and don't have a government pension, your own benefits won't be affected by either provision. Your husband's benefits might be reduced by WEP if his county job didn't pay into Social Security, but that wouldn't affect your benefits based on your own work record.
0 coins
Ruby Garcia
To answer your original question more specifically, here's how to see what your benefit would be without WEP: 1. Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 or visit your local office 2. Request a "Detailed Earnings Query" and a "WEP Computation" 3. The WEP Computation will show your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) both before and after the WEP reduction 4. Ask them to explain which years counted as "substantial earnings" toward reducing your WEP penalty With 22 years of substantial earnings in Social Security-covered employment, your WEP reduction should be 90% of the maximum reduction (which is $647 in 2025). So instead of losing $647, you would lose about $582 per month. However, if some of those 22 years didn't meet the substantial earnings threshold for their respective years, the calculation would be different.
0 coins
Isaiah Thompson
•Perfect - this is exactly what I needed! I'll do this asap. And yeah, better to use that Claimyr service rather than waiting on hold for hours again. Thanks everyone for all the helpful info!
0 coins