DENIED? FILING A NEW APPLICATION IS A MISTAKE

Social Security disability applications are reviewed and approved/denied by the Disability Determination Service, or DDS for short.  The DDS reviews your medical records, work history and other information and decides whether you meet the rules to receive benefits.  They deny about 7 out of 10 applications.

If you get denied, it makes no sense to file a new claim.  The same agency (DDS) that denied you will look at the same information, apply the same rules, and deny you again.  Each application you file will waste 3 to 5 months of your time and you are no closer to being approved than you were to start with.

So, what's the better way?

The better way is to appeal as soon as you are denied.  The goal is to get your claim OUT of the DDS and before a judge.  This requires an appeal.

CAUTION:  The law only gives you 60 days to appeal.  After that, you cannot appeal unless you can show good cause for filing a late appeal--and this is very difficult to do.

A denial by the Disability Determination Service (DDS) is unfortunate but it is also an opportunity.  It is an opportunity to get out of DDS completely and before an administrative law judge, where there are better odds of approval.

An appeal puts you in line for a hearing, which will probably be about 2 years in the future.  If your claim is eventually approved, you may be able to receive back pay for the time you waited.

Filing new application after new application is spinning your wheels.  You are stuck and getting nowhere.  File an appeal, move up the chain of command and increase your odds of being approved.