SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY PROCESS IN ALABAMA

Here briefly is the process for Social Security disability, with time frames.

I.  APPLY.  Apply 3 ways - (a) online at www.socialsecurity.gov, (b) at your Social Security office, (c) with your attorney or advocate.  Decision time:  about 4 months.  Odds of a favorable decision:  about 28 percent.

2. APPEAL UNFAVORABLE DECISIONS.  This amounts to filing a written request for a hearing before an administrative law judge, and filing a Disability Report - Appeal.  Average waiting time:  about 18 months.  Odds of success:  varies widely from office to office and judge to judge.  Based on recent national averages, about 42% of cases are approved/awarded at hearing.

3.  APPEALS COUNCIL. If the hearing results in an unfavorable decision, ask for a review by the Appeals Council.  Waiting time:  over 1 year.  The following are approximate dispositions for AC appeals:

•  72%      appeal denied - denial stands
• 22.5%    remand - sent back for new hearing 
• 3% -      AC issues a new decision (more favorable)
• 2.5%      Dismissal (not filed by the deadline)

I think you can see that the best chance of getting approved is at the first appeal (hearing level).  There is a fairly low chance of approval at the Appeals Council.

Also, you can see that in a best case scenario, it will take about 4 months to be approved if no appeal is needed.  Add about 18 months for a hearing and another 12 months or more if an AC appeal is needed.  So, a worse case scenario can drag on 3 or 4 years easily.

Also be aware that Social Security does not pay the first 5 months of an SSDI claim.  They also pay 1 month in the arrears.  So, if you became disabled today, it would be at least 6 months before you could get a Social Security disability check, even under a best case scenario.

There are several words that could describe the Social Security disability process.  "Fast" is not one of those words.  However, there are things that can prevent useless delays of your claim, such as filing a nice, complete application and returning all their forms quickly.

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