Originally published on 2/26/26

Jerralee King, 84, recently received $9,000 in extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and despite it being the government’s mistake, she’s expected to repay them for the overcharge. Unable to do that, King is now required to put up to 15 percent of her Social Security benefits toward paying off the debt. She also has to begin to look for a job in Houston, Texas, which can be hard given her age. 

“Hopefully they’ll be hiring old ladies at that point,” King joked to ABC 13. “When you make a mistake, you have to rectify it in some way. You know, you don’t just bomb it off on somebody else and say, ‘Oh, I made a mistake here. You fix it.’” 

Below, we look into how common this sort of issue is and if there are ways to resolve it without losing out on your monthly Social Security benefits. 

What to do if the government sends you too much SNAP money 

SNAP—also known as food stamps—is a government-funded nutrition program that sends a set amount of money to Americans each month. The funds are supposed to help them purchase groceries, but some Americans are able to purchase seeds and plants as well. 

Currently around 42 million Americans participate in SNAP, with the average monthly benefit being $332. Most of the time, that money isn’t expected to be paid back, unless, of course, the government sends you too much, which is exactly what happened to King. 

“There’s not really anything in the application that will warn them that there’s the potential for the agency to make an error that would result in the overpayment like that,” Marty Orozco, litigation director for public benefits and outreach for Lone Star Legal Aid, told ABC 13. “If people are keeping track of their benefits on a regular basis and most people do because they want to know what they have when they go to the store to spend, and they see anything unusual, that should be a clue for them to take a closer look at their account and maybe reach out [to their local SNAP office].” 

If you don’t alert your local SNAP office, that’s when the government could contact you and demand you give them the extra money back, even if you’ve already spent it. 

“The national SNAP overpayment rate was over 9 percent in FY2024,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. “That means hundreds of thousands of cases annually involve incorrect payments. States overpay far more often than they underpay, and recipients have no warning in the application that agency errors can be clawed back from them.” 

How to pay back your SNAP benefits

If you end up owing money on your SNAP benefits, most of the time you can pay it back by check, money order, online payment or an automatic reduction on future benefits. For people on Social Security, that all changes. 

If someone receiving SNAP receives excess money in error , the government will take 10 to 15 percent of their monthly Social Security benefits to help pay that amount back. 

Some states do offer waivers and/or hearings that allow you to avoid automatic Social Security deduction. To find out how to do this, contact your local SNAP office. 

“If benefits jump without explanation, call immediately,” Ryan told Newsweek. “Request a fair hearing within 90 days of any overpayment notice. You can often negotiate a repayment plan or challenge the amount.”

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/life/money/snap-overpayment-what-to-do-if-government-sends-too-much