If you suffer from a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to work, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits (SSD). Unfortunately, the process of receiving benefits is often a difficult one. You could be left with no income for months due to your inability to work and the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) processing time. You may be able to speed this process up with legal help, but it’s important to know the average wait for SSD.
AVERAGE WAIT FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS
When you file a claim for SSD benefits, you’ll end up waiting between 30 and 90 days before getting a decision. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that your Social Security disability wait will be less than three months. In many instances, your initial claim may be denied. In fact, upwards of 70 percent of all initial claims are denied.
If you’ve already been through this process, you may feel as if there’s nothing you can do. Fortunately, this isn’t the case. If your initial claim is denied, you can file a reconsideration appeal. Having a Social Security Disability attorney on your side can help speed this process up, and at Levine Benjamin, we work hard to get your SSD benefits as quickly as possible.
SPEEDING UP SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CLAIM
The best way to get your Social Security Disability benefits quickly is to get everything right the first time. To do this, you need to provide all medical and employment information in your initial claim. This includes work history, all related medical records, information on your previous doctors, contact information from a variety of people and a long list of other essential information.
Of course, it may be difficult for you to gather all of this on your own. Even worse is the fact that doctors may take several months to even forward the information to the SSA. A Social Security Disability attorney can handle all of this legwork for you and get the appropriate information handed over in a timely manner. And if your SSD benefits are denied, you have several options.
APPEALING A SOCIAL SECURITY DECISION
A reconsideration appeal could increase your personal average wait for disability benefits by about two months. This is the amount of time it typically takes for a decision. If you were denied Social Security benefits at the initial stage, though, it’s not enough to simply file an appeal. They made their decision for a reason, and you must correct whatever that reason is if you hope to win.
Social Security Disability attorneys have a better idea of what the SSA is looking for when making their decisions. If you didn’t have one of these legal professionals when initially filing, it’s not too late to reach out for help and find out where you went wrong.
SOCIAL SECURITY APPEAL DENIED
Without legal help, facing a Social Security appeal denial can immediately increase your own average wait for SSD to more than a year. That’s because your new appeal must go through an Administrative Law Judge, and their schedule is often full of cases related to Social Security Disability benefits.
This may seem like a long wait, but keep in mind that these judges handle appeals for people with both physical and mental disabilities seeking SSD benefits. Finding legal help before this situation arises is ideal, but a denial isn’t the end of the road.
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ATTORNEY HELP
A Social Security disability attorney can help you at every step of this process. At Levine Benjamin, we’ll make sure your application has the best chance of approval. Additionally, we may even be able to expedite the initial filing process by utilizing certain SSD benefit programs meant to speed things up for certain applicants. If you can no longer work, minimize your average wait for disability benefits by contacting us.
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