Having been dead is going to kill me...

Being resurrected from among the dead is not all it is cracked up to be.  The angels are not singing.  There are no rivers of milk and honey and the roads are not paved with gold.  Instead, there are hopes of things going correctly, finding out that you are now dead in places on your credit report and that Social Security, while resurrecting you, does not promise that your payments will be made on time, if at all.

And, once dead, you best know your father's full name, your mother's maiden name, your current address, any of the other streets you might have lived at or had packages delivered to, your Social Security Number, your phone number (the one Social Security has in it's system), your birthday and the city you were born in.  And if you are dealing with folks who are looking at you financially, you had best know the amount of any loan payments that you are making or have recently made...the exact amount... and the bank or institution that holds the loan and a loan number.  And you are going to get very tired of repeating that information over and over and over again.

Last week I started getting more letters from Social Security.  I got two on one day.  One said I would be getting my November payment but the amount would be different as they had discovered an error in my original amount.  The other letter stated that my claims for October and November were being denied and if I wanted to contest that ruling to call (866) ***-****.  I paid no attention to either as the information on the SSA web site indicated I was alive and the next payment was scheduled for it's normal time.  I HAD faith in my government and went along blithely ignorant of the fact that my money might not be arriving into my account on time.

Thanksgiving came and went.  Food cooked, eaten and time with family spent!

Black Friday, which now has an entirely new meaning for me, found another letter in my mailbox from SSA.  This letter informed me that my November payment, and all future payments were being suspended until I called (866) ***-**** so we could discuss why a payment had been returned.  I found this letter with plenty of time to call and talk to a person, but all I got was an answering machine, so I left a message.

SO all weekend long, this is hanging over my head.  I scour the house and locate all of the letters from SSA and from my Part D drug plan provider.

This morning I wait until 9:00 AM and no phone call, so I get my phone, dial the number... TV on so I can at least watch something until a person answers the phone.  To my great surprise, the phone rings once and Candace answers the phone.

We chat about my issue, I answer the list of required questions and she declares that she will contact the proper office and get the payment started again.  But there my still be a 'deceased flag' deep in the ACH system of my bank.  It may not be fixed yet!!!

I call that bank and am assured by Cutter that he has looked deep into the banks system and is finding no flags or holds on that account.  Again, time will tell.

When talking with Candace, I happened to mention the other letters.  She suggested that I call and go through the process of making things right, as there are a great many service areas that work independently.  Good to know.  SO now I also need to see where the letter is coming from as it is not JUST one Social Security.

So I call.  Teesha helps me clear up the denied payments and assures me that she will be contacting the folks who make the payments and that I will be getting everything I am owed.  Wonder if it will be one payment (the only thing I am missing) or two payments (the two that were denied) or all three, at which point I am going to owe SSA a great deal of money in return.  This will be fun to watch.

In the meantime, my Part D plan has been reinstated, but they think I am new from November 1st and will be with them through 2020.  Actually, I have signed up with a new plan for 2020, but now I am expecting all of that to get fouled up as well, so I will be watching this closely so it does not get out of hand.

My advice to you.  Once you go on Social Security, make sure you are in your forever home.  Do not move, do not try to change anything yourself online, go to your local SSA office and be sure you take down names of those who have helped you.  That way you can point fingers and lay blame.

I did get an apology letter today from Social Security.  They said it was an unfortunate error.  REALLY???   They get death information from many different sources and they did not know how my name was reported.  But it has been removed from the weekly master list where it appeared at the end of October.  I am being offered one year of ID/financial protection that I will take them up on and perhaps be able to remove the death flags from all of my credit reports.  I figure that the government does not often give you something for free, nor do they admit that it was their mistake.  So I will take what is offered and keep slogging through this mini-nightmare.

At least Black Friday is behind me!!!