What Good Is Calling About Your Social Security Disability Claim?

Many people who apply for social security disability find that, after putting in an application, getting information back on the status of the claim can be difficult and frustrating. In this article, we'll address the question: "What Good Is Calling About Your Social Security Disability Claim?"

Once you have filed your Social Security disability claim, your claim is sent to another agency for a medical decision. The state agency, usually known as DDS, is responsible for making a determination in your case and it handles thousands of disability claims per year. Naturally, it is possible for disability claims to get lost in the shuffle. And, there are times that you have filed your initial disability claim but it remains in your local Social Security office without being transferred to the state disability agency. Or, Social Security has had a need to contact you but have been unable to reach you because of an address change or phone number change. There are many reasons that a claim may become “stuck” in the system, and a timely call from you could get the ball rolling again so to speak.

Firstly, if you have occasion to change your address or phone number you should always notify you local Social Security office or the disability examiner working on your disability claim so that if there is a need for additional information or consultative examinations, Social Security will be able to reach you.

Additionally, if a disability decision has been made and you have not received a notice, your calling to check the status of your disability claim may preserve your ability to file a timely appeal. Social Security only allows you sixty-five days to appeal a denial decision.

Also if your disability decision is an allowance but Social Security has not way to contact you to come in for an end line review of for SSI, your disability claim may be denied.

As you can see, it is important to call and check the status of your social security disability claim. You may be wondering when you should begin to check the status of your claim. Well, it generally takes anywhere from thirty to a hundred days to make an initial disability determination, so it might be wise to start checking at about thirty days after you have completed your disability application and returned any needed information.

Remember, Social Security cannot even send your disability claim to the state agency for processing if you have not returned your signed medical release forms. Once your disability claim has been sent to the state disability processing agency, you should check every couple weeks after thirty days to make sure you do not miss any decisional notices. Of course, as I stated previously make sure that Social Security has a current address and phone number for you at all times during the processing of your disability claim.