Social Security error declared Philadelphia woman dead: “They said I was deceased”

A clerical error has turned Renee Williams into the living dead.

The 66-year-old West Philadelphia woman lost access to her bank accounts, health insurance and retirement benefits after being mistakenly placed on the Social Security Administration’s “Death Master File.” Williams turned to CBS News Philadelphia for help.

“I want people to know that Social Security is,” Williams said as she paused and laughed, considering how to finish her sentence, “a pain in the behind.”

The grandmother of 10 made the discovery during a recent medical appointment.

“I went to the emergency ward on Friday, and they couldn’t get my insurance information,” Williams said. “She said she tried several places and they said it was inactive. They said that I was deceased.”

Williams and her daughter now suspect her name wrongly landed on the SSA’s “Death Master File” because Renee’s husband, Ronald, died in August.

But the seemingly simple clerical error set off a devastating domino effect for Williams.

It not only stopped her monthly Social Security checks but essentially wiped her out of existence to the IRS, Medicare and her mortgage company.

“Her benefits, the banks, credit cards, it’s a lot,” Wadeeyah McNeil, Williams’ daughter, said. “It’s going to be a while before she gets all this stuff back in order. It’ll be a long while.”

CBS News Philadelphia learned Williams is far from the first person to be incorrectly declared dead by the federal government.

As many as nearly 7,000 Americans each year wrongly wind up on the “Death Master File,” according to the most recent available data. This Office of Inspector General memorandum notes that’s an improvement. Erroneous death reports have decreased by 45% since 2011 as all states have moved to electronic reporting.

An SSA spokesperson declined to discuss Williams’ case but told CBS News Philadelphia the agency’s records are “highly accurate,” saying errors account for “less than one-third of 1%” of the approximately 3.1 million deaths reported to the Social Security Administration annually.

For people like Williams, who are still very much alive, it’s a mistake with deadly serious consequences.

If a person suspects they have been incorrectly listed as deceased on their Social Security record, they should contact their local Social Security office as soon as possible, a spokesperson told CBS News Philadelphia. You can locate your nearest Social Security office here.

The agency says you should be prepared to bring at least one current original form of identification.

“Social Security takes immediate action to correct our records,” a spokesperson said, “and we can provide a letter that the error has been corrected that can be shared with other organizations.”