Denied Disability in Detroit? What To Do Next

Every case is different, and your case will require careful review, but you could be denied disability benefits for many reasons: incomplete application, incorrect information on your application, not enough medical evidence showing severity of your condition, lack of evidence that you have regularly sought medical treatment, missed responses to requests for more information, information presented in a way that doesn’t make your inability to work clear, continuing to work more than limits allowed by Social Security Disability, other activities that lead claims examiners to think you could work, an educational background that leads examiners to think you could switch to different work, alcohol or drug use that leads examiners to think you could return to work if you stopped, and of course, mistakes by Social Security.

Social Security is always under pressure to guard against undeserving people getting disability benefits. That means every claim must satisfy thousands of rules. The rules make it complicated and difficult to get benefits even for some of the most deserving people. Social Security almost always has a backlog of cases and not enough people to quickly put the cases through this complex process. Nationally about 80 percent of initial disability applications were denied over a recent 10-year period. It has essentially become a normal part of the process to apply for disability benefits, get denied and need to appeal.

Most of the time, yes. Getting denied feels discouraging, but it is so common that your real chance of winning disability benefits may be when you appeal. While 80 percent of applications are denied at first, in the end about a third of people win benefits nationally. You chances are often the highest at the stage of a hearing with a disability appeals judge. An experienced disability lawyer can guide you through the steps.

Usually, it’s better to keep your existing disability benefits claim alive with an appeal than to start a new claim. A big reason is that when you eventually win benefits, you’ll receive back pay covering time that you waited while your case went through the system. The longer ago you started, the better chance of more back pay. If you start again, the clock may reset to a newer date with less back pay. It’s often possible to fix the problems in your claim that got you denied. That said, in certain cases where your health situation has changed dramatically from your application or last appeal, it can make sense to start over. Later stages in appealing don’t allow you to add new evidence, so applying again to report a major shift in your health could be a faster way to get approved. Talk to a disability attorney to understand what path is best for you.

You need to file your appeal quickly after you find out you have been denied. Social Security gives you a 60-DAY DEADLINE TO APPEAL from the date on your notice of benefits denial. Don’t wait.

When you appeal a disability benefits denial, you’ll likely need more information and records about your health issues, updated information on the status of your health and attempts to work, and stronger arguments for why you should receive benefits. The first step is studying the Social Security Disability denial letter and your initial application to find and correct the weak spots. Later you may need to testify for a disability law judge. And you may need to submit legal briefs supporting your claim. When you’re appealing, it’s more important than when you first applied to work with a skilled disability lawyer.

Appealing a Social Security Disability denial is a frustratingly long process. It typically takes several months to get an answer on your first appeal, which is a request for Social Security to reconsider their decision. Few people are approved at this level, though, so next you may have to ask for a hearing with a disability judge, which takes several more months to reach. It can easily be over a year before your disability benefits appeal is finished.

The reconsideration is the first step in the appeals process after you receive a denial of Social Security Disability. Approval rates are still pretty low at this stage. For example, in a recent year in Michigan, reconsideration approvals were about 19 percent.

A disability hearing often gives you a better chance of  approval as you get to make your case directly to an administrative law judge. You can present more evidence and testimony, and you can avoid mistakes that led to your previous denials.

In states like Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, disability judges sometimes approve people for benefits close to 50 percent of the time.

So, a disability hearing gives you better odds. Having experienced legal representation could help you improve those odds even more.

Of course, at Levine Benjamin Law Firm our advice is to get a lawyer to help you appeal your disability benefits denial. But we truly mean this. Even if you don’t choose to work with our lawyers, we think you should find some lawyer to help you. Appealing is much more involved and legally technical than applying for disability benefits. A skilled disability lawyer is in the best position to handle this. And a lawyer can get you a better chance of benefits approval, especially at the crucial step of your hearing with a disability judge. No matter how much work goes into your appeal or how long it takes, you don’t pay a fee for your disability lawyer until you win benefits. Get professional support for your disability appeal, a fresh chance, and greater hope for financial relief.