address - still concerned...

[Zil]

I don't have a answer for you problem. But some of my experiences. I have had a US post office box for more years than I like to think. When my mother was alive she would collect my mail while I was on the road. Now she has moved on, it is a problem as they have masses of junk mail stuffed in the box 2 times a week. Also, for the past 10 years, thanks MIC, once per year I have to prove to the postmaster that I have a physical address. They have become lax in the last few years, but do catch up and ask. I had to get some first class mail sent to a stick and brick. Now I am thinking about a UPS store address or some thing. But that is a commercial address.
The various mail forwarding services are not considered commercial addresses. They are in the states that recognize them as home addresses.
I don't know of any one of many I know on SSI that have had home visits except for minors.
Of course the best is to have a family or very trusted friend to supply the address.

 

[light trip]

Thanks Zil. I honestly would be surprised if Social Security Disability would ever pay me a visit, as I mentioned in the beginning of this thread, there is no doubt of my disability. But if they did and I didn't have my ducks in a row, the results could be devastating for me. They are my life-line.

Yet, if someone wanted to impose on friends or family you could circumvent the efforts of Social Security Disability.

Again, if anyone finds themselves in this situation. I could simply approach a family member or a friend I have out West saying I need a favor. But I would say to them,,, “before you say no hear me out. I need a place to live and get mail but I will only come once or twice a year, or if Disability wants to see my home.” This room, basement, whatever, I'd be willing to pay a couple hundred dollars a year.

It doesn't seem there is any easy answer for this but I feel confident I could make the same arrangement with a back space in a campground (“I would use electric and water once or twice year”) or someone renting a room in their house, (“rent me the room, $200 a year, and then rent it again to someone else”) or maybe even the owner of a cheapy-fleabag hotel.

My fear with mailing services is that too many people would of the same street address, even if you had a different unit number. I know what some of you are thinking, I'm taking it a little too far. And I'd agree, doubtful they ever check on me, but if by chance they did, in my condition, well you see those people all the time. I'll be looking for a shopping cart.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

The only advice I can offer on this subject is to mention that the American Civil Liberties Union seems to be heavily involved in protecting homeless rights.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try to find the nearest local chapter and go in and talk to them about this, get their take on it.

And if, God forbid, you ever found yourself dealing with the worst case scenario, you might be able to get the ACLU to file suit on your behalf.

Regards
John

 

[Bdog1]

I'm far from expert here. But, I believe living on the water is always more expensive and more difficult than being on land.

 

[akrvbob]

I'm no fan of California, but they have a law on the books protecting the homeless. I have a friend who got a California drivers license and the DMV wouldn't give it to him because he didn't have an address. He looked up the law, took it in and spoke to the branch manager and they HAD to give him a drivers license.

Cali is very generous to disabled seniors and have some of the best social programs in the country.

You can drive from Slab City (Niland, Ca) which is at below sea and very warm in the winter to Mammoth Lakes at over 8000 feet and very comfortable all summer and is only 420 miles away.

That might be the place for you.
Bob

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I'm far from expert here. But, I believe living on the water is always more expensive and more difficult than being on land.

Yup, it does have its own set of challenges, but we sure enjoyed living aboard our sailboat.

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Oh, and expensive?? Can be, but this RV really hits the wallet hard at the pump. Most of our other spending was about the same since the boat started out in like new condition.

 

[light trip]

Thanks to all that keep posting. You all provide plenty to think about and consider. Including Rights of people with a disability. I spend a great deal of time and effort making sure I comply, however it's easy to forget persons of disability have Rights as well.

Living on the water does, I believe, provide unique challenges. Not the least of which is fresh water. I'm not convinced it's the best option for me.

I keep thinking of others in this situation, and above all else, and slightly above an address where you can say where you live, safeguard your documents. With your medical records and proper I.D. you most likely can get help. Photograph them using a digital camera and put them on a jump drive. If you don't have your records make a list of the doctors you've seen, so other agencies can contact them for your records. More then anything, what I've learned, it's not about your disability, it's about what you can prove.

I like having a passport card. It's really like having a national I.D. card and although they cost $30.00, they're good for ten years and don't require an address once mailed. Nor does it show an address on the card. It is a valid picture I.D. even for law enforcement, that does show an address. Many states issued driver licenses and I.D. cards require a change of address in a very short time period, sometimes within days, to stay valid. Law enforcement mostly wants to I.D. you to make sure you're not a bad guy.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[Lucky mike]

Keep in mind there is a big difference in SSD and SSD/I....

If it is SSD....it is paid thru the federal government from benefit insurance and you may collect it anywhere.

IF it is SSD/I or SSI disability it is paid by the state you live in and you are required to Physically live there.....and be there....if you leave you must reapply in the next state you intend to live in.

Medical Records and history can be stored electronically online now thru several companies....all my records can be accessed by me or an authorized agent in seconds...It cost me 10 bucks a year and all my records ...MRI's anything is right there....worth having!!!

 

[Kevin H]

Texas, Florida and South Dakota are the main players for full-time rvers. We use SD for all our legal issues (see my previous post). I would suggest you call the SD SS office in Pierre and get the specific answers to your questions. This sounds like a complex issue and, no disrespect to anyone here, one should not rely on the word, thoughts or directives of any source other than the horses mouth.

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I waited over 5 minutes to edit so was not able to. Here is a follow-on to my last post:

Given South Dakota's roll in the rv world, they have to run into your questions on a frequent basis. I suggest them only because that state is the option I chose. Thanks be that I am not dealing with a disability so my suggestion carries as much value as you are paying for it ! Texas and Florida could be options as well.

 

[Lucky mike]

As in my last post....the info was taken directly from the SS rules.......like kevin said check with SS directly dont take anybodys word for it....

if you lose your payments thru SS it takes months to get them back in order!!

check your disability Letter to see if you are recieving SSD or SSI/D there is a big difference in the rules

 

[Ballenxj]

I read in the rules of Social Security you can not use a commercial address for a residence, otherwise benefits can be discontinued. I've gone through all the post in this thread, but still wondering, if you are on disability and you didn't want to use family or friends for a residence address, what are you using? I think Social Security would catch on pretty quick to a mail forwarding business, many people with the same mailing address showing up all the time in their records.

Do they consider a mail forwarding service a commercial address? If you are an RV dweller what do they expect you to do?

 

[user 423]

Do they consider a mail forwarding service a commercial address? If you are an RV dweller what do they expect you to do?

If you used a local forwarder you'd maybe be OK. If you list an RV as a residence they would expect you to have a local PO box, RV park,campground,etc. for an address. DMV's probably have data bases to detect commercial addresses so they can make sure you don't get away with paying lower fees on commercial vehicles. It's possible that state social service agencies would be able to check the same DB's so unless you knew for sure, it's not worth the risk.

 

[Lucky mike]

I live in an RV....I have a PO box and someone to collect my mail and forward it to me...

there is a real good one out of florida ....St. Brennans Ilse or something like that that alot of people on disability I know use for there mail , Drivers lic. and other things without problems.

is your disability SSD or SSI/D......there is a difference on how your address will affect you.

SSD is paid from Insurance thru the government meaning you worked long enough to draw your money back.

SSI/D is paid for by the state you reside in...meaning you didnt have enough work credits but you are disabled so the state is required to make payment.

SSD is a Federal payment thru social security along with medicare with no state payments so they dont keep track of you unless you leave the country...

SSI/D is a state payment thru social security with Medicaid as medical......you must prove you are in that state consistantly thru billing or banking and such....

I have researched this hard......I live like you in an RV....home is where we park it!.....I normally come thru the area I call home every 90 days for medical reasons.....

this is the website for the mail service I mentioned....they give you a street legal address accepted by the state of FLA.

http://www.sbimailservice.com/

Again keep in mind if your disability is paid by the state you are going to have to jump thru hoops to have it reinstated in another state if you move it...unless your missing a few parts they can see!!!.....(I tell this joke because my arm and leg got lost in this RV somewhere...LOL).....

life on the road in an RV disabled is great once you figure what and where you plan to be....I met alot of east coasters dwelling in different spots

Good luck!!......

PS stay out of NH this time of year......we just got 4 feet of snow this week and they dont sell one handed shovels you can hop with!!!!!!

 

[Ballenxj]

is your disability SSD or SSI/D......there is a difference on how your address will affect you.

SSD is paid from Insurance thru the government meaning you worked long enough to draw your money back.

SSI/D is paid for by the state you reside in...meaning you didnt have enough work credits but you are disabled so the state is required to make payment.

SSD is a Federal payment thru social security along with medicare with no state payments so they dont keep track of you unless you leave the country...

SSI/D is a state payment thru social security with Medicaid as medical......you must prove you are in that state consistantly thru billing or banking and such....

So, I'm thinking the easy way to tell if you are vested is by the quarterly statements they send. If they start sending statements that if you become disabled you will receive XX amount of dollars, but if you make it to retirement age you will receive XXX amount of dollars. So if you received this statement you are on regular SSD.
Would you say that is about right?

 

[Lucky mike]

No...on your Letter of Disability..( you may obtain a copy at any SS office) it will type of coverage and designate the paying agency.

The Quarterly statement you get in the mail...while you are working that tells you what you will get when you retire is your SSI....and designates how much you paid in for benefits and what you will get upon retirement.........it has nothing to do with the amount of disability you would receive if you are designated.

We are kinda going off thread here......the OP was interested in how to secure a mailing address to keep his benefits without causing problems.

If you would like I would be more than happy to start a thread on traveling with disabilities and how benefits work , but remember that the only person that should be listened to are the agencies themselves and not someone on a forum.....IMHO

I only posted the information to help the OP to understand the direction he should persue with a little understanding......it sucks if you are truly disabled and you have to fight to get it back.

it takes years sometimes just to get thru the process just to get on it.....most that need it lose everything in life before it happens and have nothing once it does!!! so they are in dire straights if something happens to that lifeline

 

[light trip]

Yes, although I've been disabled all my life, from the youngest age in first grade, I've worked the last forty years until I couldn't pull it off anymore. So my benefit is federal. I can confirm that if anyone is in the situation you can easily change your address and even your bank on-line if you have access to the Internet.

However, SS Disability makes it very clear you can not use a commercial address. This is part of a list of ways you can lose your benefit, including if you are jailed. So I won't take the chance.

But also, it's quite clear that you also can live in many other countries. Not my desire, but the list includes Mexico. There's only a handful of countries you can't live in and collect disability in fact. Wonder how they check on you if you're in South America or Europe.

Keeping medical records on a cloud storage is certainly one option. Although there is risk, there is also risk not having access to your medical records, especially if you need them to prove your condition for benefits.

Obtaining your letter of benefits SS Disability can also be had on-line. I received one in the mail, but got a PDF copy on-line to keep with my records.

Bottom line you can live almost anywhere in the world, but it must not be a commercial address. Reading other threads I've found some very reasonable campgrounds. I have no desire to live outside the U.S. so this would be my first choice. I'm not required to be there all the time or year round, it just can't be a commercial address. Like when I worked, I'll do that as long as I can. If and when I can't I'll try subsidized housing.

Thanks again to all

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From publication EN-05-10153.pdf

Your benefits will be stopped if we are unable to contact you. You can change your address at our website, www.socialsecurity.gov/changeaddress.html. (page 13)

Even if you receive your benefits by direct deposit, we must have your correct address so we can send letters and other important information to you. Your benefits will be stopped if we are unable to contact you. (page 13)

If you are a U.S. citizen, you can travel to or live in most foreign countries without affecting your Social
Security benefits. There are, however, a few countries where we cannot send Social Security payments. These
countries are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Cambodia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North
Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. (page 17)

 

[Ballenxj]

Thanks Light Trip.
Yes, like you, I worked my whole life before having medical difficulty's. I was receiving those quarterly statements long before I was forced to leave the work force, hence my comment above. I tell ya, it ain't easy.

 

[Lucky mike]

Niether is getting Disability......good luck

 

[user 423]

However, SS Disability makes it very clear you can not use a commercial address.

From publication EN-05-10153.pdf

Hmmm. I downloaded that publication and didn't see where it states that you can't use a commercial address. What page did you see that on? Or does it say it somewhere on the COA page after you log in at the site? That link pops up in Internet Exploder and won't load for me but it's probably because I use Firefox.

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PS: Oh, sorry I did see page 13 indicated in your post. I don't see anything about a commercial address.

 

[Lucky mike]

Hmmm. I downloaded that publication and didn't see where it states that you can't use a commercial address. What page did you see that on? Or does it say it somewhere on the COA page after you log in at the site? That link pops up in Internet Exploder and won't load for me but it's probably because I use Firefox.

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PS: Oh, sorry I did see page 13 indicated in your post. I don't see anything about a commercial address.

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and again......dont believe everything or as far as it goes Anything you hear on a forum.........call SS or stop by directly and get your answer or trust me.....the battle to get the little benefits you get now are going to be just like the first time except worse!!!! When you temporarily loose them and have to fight to get them back

ps you might want to see how old the rules are your reading off the internet......they could be outdated......trust nothing but what SS tells you and get a name and date it when you do!!