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Isn't there a waiting a period even after you are approved? First you go through the application process which takes time and then if and when approved there is a 5 month (I think) waiting period.
OP if you have been disable since 2016 you are losing time. Complete the application online and send it in. If it's turned down you can appeal your own case or hire a lawyer. The administration has a cap on what the disability attorney can charge.
My understanding, and those with better info please correct this, is that when you are finally approved for disability benefits you will receive back pay from the time you initially applied, minus the five month waiting period.
Disability attorneys will take a percentage of that back pay amount for helping with the appeals.
Which is why they tell you to apply on your own anmd coe to them if you are denied. They make very little money helping people fill out the initial application.
When approved, your award will include retroactive payments back to the date of disability. The lawyer's fee is a percentage of that, up to $6,000. The lawyer will not do a thing, or even take your phone calls, until his share hits the maximum. Why should he? Then he will file exactly the same application you did, and the court will magically have a change of heart. The lawyer will be handed the $6,000 immediately, and you will wait about six months.
If the lawyer accepts the case, you will win. They don't do anything for nothing. The judge has bettter things to do than read this boring stuff.
And since the lawyer is paid for his appeal work, based upon and from the back monies owed from the initially filing (if the appeal is approved), it seems in some cases the lawyer would have incentive to drag the case out to ensure a $6000 pay check. Which is what cebuan is saying above.
I filed my mom's appeal myself after the initial denial. For some reason they deny about 75% of initial filings, so don't be discouraged if at first you get a denial. Just file an appeal, use a lawyer for the appeal only if you don't feel up to the task.
No, you don't receive back pay to the time you became disabled. You receive a maximum of two years back pay minus the five month waiting period.
Again, if your disability is listed on the link I posted earlier, you may be able to apply for yourself and get approved. If you are looking for the maximum back pay, you will likely need an attorney. I had two MRIs 13 months apart that had almost the exact verbiage. The second one was accepted as my disability date. My attorney and I are appealing for the approval to be the date of the first MRI. My disability is listed so it should have been a cut and dried application. My DH filed and was approved right off the bat. His disability is also listed. His retroactive went to the date he was last tested for his COPD, not when he was initially diagnosed.
It will help if you can prove it was 2016. I ended up finally receiving SSDI when I was 61 & 1/2, but the car accident that caused the disability was a couple years prior, I can't remember how long before.
My back pay was from the date of the accident. It was easily proven because of the police report.
When approved, your award will include retroactive payments back to the date of disability. The lawyer's fee is a percentage of that, up to $6,000. The lawyer will not do a thing, or even take your phone calls, until his share hits the maximum. Why should he? Then he will file exactly the same application you did, and the court will magically have a change of heart. The lawyer will be handed the $6,000 immediately, and you will wait about six months.
If the lawyer accepts the case, you will win. They don't do anything for nothing. The judge has bettter things to do than read this boring stuff.
Beyond a ridiculous response. My wife hired a lawyer who had spent 30+ years of his legal career doing nothing but SS issues. He instructed her exactly what, when, and how to do everything she needed to do on her end, and what not to say or do. After gathering all of the information, and documentation he needed, he did an online submission of a huge portfolio of application and documentation material. It took several hours to input all the data, including medical history and several recent evaluations from specialists. She was approved within a week of her first submission. The lawyer was paid $600 out of her first check.
During the process I discovered that there is a lot of information that a knowledgeable SS lawyer has, that the average applicant has no clue about. At the end of the process, the guy told me that he will not take a case that he cannot win, and has a 97%+ success rate over his career. So, if you want to save some of the government's money, by not hiring a lawyer that THEY pay for, by all means. There is a reason why the average "expert" on any forum claims that you don't need a lawyer, since "everybody get's turned down the first time", and SS lawyers know that a well documented applicant succeeds, on their first try, over 50% of the time. Remember the old legal saying, "a person who defends themself has a fool for a lawyer"
I know many who have successfully used lawyers to handle their SSDI cases. Some went to them initially, others did a DIY application and lost the first round. Some even used the guys with the big advertising budgets and sleazy billboards. I have never heard anything but positive comments on their experiences, with zero complaints about lawyers trying to run the clock out, or refuse to communicate with their client.
Last edited by wharton; 08-24-2019 at 10:58 AM..
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