Representative Payee is Making it Hard to Pay Bills
My boyfriend and I live together and bot h receive SSDI. However, I receive my check myself, while he has a rep payee through an organization.
Each week his rep payee deposits 140 into his bank savings account. She refuses to ever deposit any additional money for ANYTHING, despite him having nearly 1500 in his checking account which he cannot access.
I handle the finances for the most part, but our rent alone takes the majority of my check and the rest goes to the utilities. We use the weekly 140 for food, medication co-pays and transportation, but its not enough.
She refuses to give money to pay for clothing, shoes, hygiene products, even our wedding rings despite the money being available.
Now we need money for the electric bill this month. Is there any legal way to get her to pay the electric bill with some of his extra money?
We are going to try and get it switched so I am the rep payee, but we have a payment arrangement with the electric company and it can't be late.
While reading about rep payees online, it seems she isn't quite doing her job correctly. If so, is there a way to report her or am I just not getting something here?
Re: Representative Payee is Making it Hard to Pay Bills
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Quoting
Mlf6180
Each week his rep payee deposits 140 into his bank savings account. She refuses to ever deposit any additional money for ANYTHING, despite him having nearly 1500 in his checking account which he cannot access.
He can check the organization's policies for the disbursement of money, and why they are holding the money.
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Quoting Mlf6180
She refuses to give money to pay for clothing, shoes, hygiene products, even our wedding rings despite the money being available.
I doubt that he's naked and unable to afford a bar of soap or can of shaving cream.
He can check with the organization with regard to its policies for such matters as a special purchase, such as shaving cream.
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Quoting Mlf6180
Now we need money for the electric bill this month. Is there any legal way to get her to pay the electric bill with some of his extra money?
He can check with the organization to see what its policies are, to assist with a bill that the beneficiary is unable to afford despite past disbursements.
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Quoting Mlf6180
We are going to try and get it switched so I am the rep payee....
You had best get on that.
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Quoting Mlf6180
While reading about rep payees online, it seems she isn't quite doing her job correctly. If so, is there a way to report her or am I just not getting something here?
He may speak to the organization that is acting as his payee, at any time that he chooses, and raise any issues he has with the specific worker with that organization.
Re: Representative Payee is Making it Hard to Pay Bills
Keep documentation that they won't pay electric bill. write a letter about the bill due and request it be paid and keep a copy of your letter and the bill due.
Request an appointment with social security to switch payees and bring this documentation, I don't see why you would have any problem getting switched.
I wouldn't get into wedding rings or anything else. Electric bill is the best evidence.
Re: Representative Payee is Making it Hard to Pay Bills
This is her boyfriend's issue.
The issue also isn't that the representative payee isn't paying the bills -- she's giving the boyfriend money to pay the bills. The new girlfriend wants to drain his relatively modest reserve ($1,500) because they're spending more money than the representative payee provides -- and it's not inherently unresonable for the representative payee to want to hold some money in reserve for emergencies.
An issue looming in the background is whether the money provided by the representative payee was sufficient for the recipient's bills before this relationship began.