started my fire department pension march 1 1974. spent 25years on the dept.and retired in1999. started my social security in 2009.and was told that my $900 quote from social will be reduced to $600 because of the windfall elimination provision . it has come to my attention that if a firefighter had 10 years vested in the pension system prior to 12/31/ 85 . WEP. does not apply . i should have been paid the full amount. i found that a law suit was brought against social security.11 circuit court of appeals April16 2003. Ralph Stroup plaintiff-appellant,V joann barnhart social security commissioner. how do i get my money back the full amount.

Hi. Just to clarify, in order for you to meet the exception to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) based on pension eligibility prior to prior to January 1 1986, you would actually need to have been eligible to start collecting your pension before then. In other words, you would not only have needed to have been 'vested' before then, you would also need to have met all of the eligibility requirements to start drawing your pension prior to 1986, including meeting the minimum age requirement.

For example, even if a person had 40 quarters of Social Security coverage prior to 1986, they wouldn't have been eligible to actually have started drawing Social Security retirement benefits until they reached age 62.

In any case, though, if you think that WEP has been misapplied in your case you can try filing an appeal. However, it sounds like you'd need to establish good cause for late filing since appeals must normally be filed within 60 days of the determination that's being appealed (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0911.htm). Or, if you think that you have evidence that Social Security's determination was wrong in your case and if it's too late to file an appeal, you could submit a written request to Social Security to reopen and revise the determination on your claim (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0204001001).

Best, Jerry