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You’ve Been Denied Social Security Disability Benefits. Now What?
Well the first thing is: don’t panic. The Social Security Administration denies upwards of 60 to 70% of the initial applications for disability benefits. There’s a host of reasons for this ranging from they can’t put a face to the disability to the government’s trying to save money. Some of these reasons have merit and some of them don’t. But just take comfort in the fact that the majority of people are denied social security disability benefits when they first apply.
Next, Hire a Disability Attorney
I know this sounds self-serving for a disability attorney to say “hire a disability attorney,” but the fact a disability attorney can win cases that most people could not without an attorney. A good disability attorney knows exactly what medical documents they will need, they will craft arguments for the administration and the administrative law judge, and they will put all of this together in a coherent argument meant to convince an administrative law judge that the Social Security Administration made a mistake in denying your claim for benefits.
When I have an electric problem at my house, I don’t get my toolbox and begin experimenting with the electrical grid at my house. I hire a trained electrician. Same principle here: you will miss things that someone who’s handled plenty of social security disability claims may catch. It’s not worth the risk considering that you don’t directly pay your attorney in a disability claim (the Social Security Administration does that), and they are capped in the amount of your past due benefits they may take a percentage from.
Currently, a disability attorney may only take up to 25% of your past due benefits and no more than $6000 total.
Do Everything You Can to Help Your Disability Attorney Prepare Your Case
Too many times, clients drag their feet in gathering items that their disability attorney has asked them to gather. Though the social security disability process is slow, I’ve had clients that did not get me what I asked for after eighteen months of emails and letters and phone calls reminding them.
Don’t do this. Ultimately, you have more at stake with your case than the attorney does and you need to take your case seriously. When a disability attorney needs a HIPPA waiver signed so they can get your medical records, just sign the document and send it back as soon as you have it or give the attorney a specific time of when you can get it back to them.
Some case files in disabililty cases are hundreds of pages long and if you don’t get back to the attorney everything they need, it could get lost in the shuffle and your disability attorney won’t have that document when they need it.
Come to Your Benefits Administrative Hearing Prepared
This hearing is very important for your social security disability case. Don’t show up unprepared. This is your first chance to have a real person, the administrative law judge, look you in the eye when you describe your injury and your inability to work. This hearing is where your disability attorney wins most of the claims that are initially denied and where you can get the disability payments you deserve.
Force your disability attorney to spend time with you before the hearing. You need to nail down exactly what you’ll be testifying to and why. You should also review your medical history with your attorney to ensure you don’t get surprised with any questions.
It’s difficult to have the patience necessary to go through a social security disability case. Some may take as long as eighteen months and I’ve even heard of a few cases taking as long as five years. In the meantime, bills are piling up and you can’t work.
That’s where the real benefit of a good disabililty attorney comes in: things just seem to go faster when the Social Security Administration receives notices and documents from a law firm rather than an individual.
So don’t take this long journey by yourself. If you’ve been denied social security disability benefits, it means the administration already thinks you don’t have a case. Get someone on your side to fight and change their mind.
By Yossof Sharifi
Google