In case you haven’t heard, the fee agreement cap is set to increase to $9,200 on November 30, 2024. In preparation for this change (and in anticipation of the annual increases that will begin starting with the 2026 COLA announcement), we recommend reviewing your current Fee Agreements to ensure that they contain proper escalator language. It is our expectation that SSA will update their fee agreement form, SSA-1693, and the electronic version of the SSA-1693, on December 1, 2024, so if you use SSA’s fee agreement form, be sure to switch to the new version after the fee cap increase takes effect.

While there are not specific requirements for how to word escalator clauses, it is NOSSCR’s recommendation that you remove any dollar figure on future fee agreements, replacing it with language that signifies where the maximum dollar amount can be found. Here’s one such example:

If SSA favorably decides my claim(s) and the determination or decision results in past-due (retroactive) benefits, I agree to pay my representative(s) a fee that does not exceed the lesser of 25 percent of my past-due benefits or the maximum dollar amount allowed under the Social Security Act Section 206(a)(2), or such higher amount set by the Commissioner of Social Security based on the maximum dollar amount in effect as of the date of my favorable determination or decision. The current maximum fee amount can be found on Social Security’s webpage under Representing SSA Claimants – Fee Agreements.

We anticipate that field office and payment center staff will be instructed to review POMS GN 03920.006 prior to paying representative fees in order to determine the proper cap on the date of the decision. Removing the dollar amount should reduce the confusion and reduce improperly paid fee amounts (but stay tuned for next month’s Forum when we dust off our advice on what to do if you’re paid under the wrong cap!).

Relatedly, we hope you saw our announcement from earlier this week that Deputy Chief ALJ Dillon just confirmed to NOSSCR that the new authority for ALJ approval on fee petitions will be $15,000, effective December 9, 2024. This is an increase in the maximum amount an ALJ can approve on a fee petition without the need to escalate the matter to the Regional Office and should help expedite the fee petition process, allowing you to access your hard-earned fees far more expeditiously.