Privacy Act Notice

To receive sickness benefits you must apply for them and furnish information. Information that the RRB asks you to furnish is used to determine if you are eligible for benefits and the amount of benefits payable to you. Although furnishing information, including your social security number, is voluntary, the RRB cannot pay you benefits without this information. The RRB's authority for requesting information is Section 5(b) of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.

The RRB may routinely furnish information from its records to other government agencies and to other persons or companies (see list below) for the purpose of administering the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, the Social Security Act, or other benefit programs under Federal or State laws.

The RRB may routinely furnish information to the following individuals, organizations, and/or agencies:

• The U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Postal Service, to issue benefit payments and to report non-delivery, forgery, theft or loss of a benefit payment.
• A person or company which the claimant reports may award pay for time lost or some similar payment for the same period for which the RRB pays benefits.
• Persons or companies named by the claimant as liable for paying damages for the same injury or illness for which the RRB pays sickness benefits.
• The Internal Revenue Service for use in administering Federal tax laws.
• A private collection agency, the General Accounting Office, the Department of Justice, or the Internal Revenue Service for the collection of an overpayment.
• Employers or insurance companies for use in administering supplemental benefit or health insurance plans.
• Law enforcement agencies and the Department of Justice for investigating or prosecuting a violation of law.
• Employers to verify entitlement to benefits and to provide notice of benefit payment determinations.
• State unemployment agencies to verify entitlement to benefits.

Other than information that may be disclosed routinely, no information about your claim may be disclosed without your consent.

Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act Notice

In addition to the uses of information described in the preceding Privacy Act Notice, information you provide may be used, without your consent, in automated matching programs. These matching programs are a computer comparison of Railroad Retirement Board records with records kept by other Federal agencies or State and local governmental agencies. Information from these matching programs can be used to establish or verify a person's eligibility for benefits and for repayment of benefits or delinquent debts.

What Are Computer Matching Programs?

Computer matching programs compare our records with those of other Federal, State, or local government agencies. All agencies may use matching programs to find or prove that a person qualifies for benefits paid for by the Federal Government.

How Do Computer Matching Programs Affect You?

On forms that you fill out for us you give us facts about yourself. Sometimes, we check the facts you and others give us. We use computer matching to do the checking. The law allows us to check this way even if you do not agree to it. We can also give any facts we have about you to other governmental agencies for them to use in their computer matching programs.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

To receive sickness benefits, you must complete an application and claim form(s). You may also be asked to complete other forms. Some of these forms are listed below along with estimates of how long we think it takes to complete them. The estimates include time for reviewing the instructions, getting the needed information, and reviewing the completed form. Federal agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and respondents are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. If you wish, send comments regarding the accuracy of our estimates or other aspect of the forms, including suggestions for reducing completion time, to the Chief of Information Resources Management, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 N. Rush Street, Chicago Illinois 60611-2092. Be sure to include the form title and control number (in parentheses) with your comments.

Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability

Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) regulations, no qualified person may be discriminated against on the basis of disability. RRB programs and activities must be accessible to all qualified applicants and beneficiaries, including those who are vision or hearing impaired. Disabled persons needing assistance (including auxiliary aids or program information in accessible formats) should contact the nearest RRB office. Complaints of alleged discrimination by the RRB on the basis of disability must be filed within 90 days in writing with the Director of Administration, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092. Questions about individual rights under this regulation may be directed to the RRB's Director of Equal Opportunity at the same address.

RRB HelpLine 1-800-808-0772

The RRB HelpLine in an automated telephone service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can call the RRB HelpLine toll-free from either a touch-tone or rotary telephone to get the following information about your unemployment or sickness benefits:

• the amount and date of your latest benefit payment, and the claim period for which the payment was made;
• information about your last 5 benefit payments; and
• confirmation of whether we've received your latest claim, application, or supplemental doctor's statement.

We update the RRB HelpLine once each weeknight with payment information; we update information about applications, claims, and supplemental doctor's statements as we receive the forms. You will need your social security number and your Personal Identification Number (PIN) to get information about your benefit payments and claims. Your PIN is printed on the back of each claim form we mail to you. Each claim will also have a record of your last 3 payments.  Use the record of payments, the RRB HelpLine and the tables below to keep track of your claims and payments.

Fraud and Abuse Hotline

Call the toll-free Hot Line if you have reason to believe that someone is receiving railroad unemployment or sickness benefits to which he or she is not entitled.  The Hot Line has been installed by the Railroad Retirement Board's Inspector General to receive any evidence of fraud or abuse of the RRB's benefit programs. 

The toll-free Hot Line number is 1-800-772-4258. Or you may send your complaints in writing to the RRB, OIG, Hot Line Officer, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092.

Please do not call the Inspector General's Hot Line with questions about eligibility requirements, delayed claims, or similar problems. Such matters should be directed to the nearest RRB field office..