12Mar

Social Security denial: should you appeal or reapply?

By Tomasz Stasiuk, March 12th, 2008 | 2 Denials & Appeals | 4 Comments

I often hear the following question:

I just got my Social Security denial letter. Should I appeal or reapply?

While every case is different, based on my experiences handling Social Security claims in Colorado, I often find the you stand a better chance by appealing rather than re-applying.

If you reapply, your case may be reviewed by the same person who denied you the first time. Chances are they will not change their mind.

By appealing, you take the case out of the hands of the person who denied you, and put it in front of a fresh pair of eyes. Sometimes you can present the same case on appeal, and the fact that the new person does not have any preconceived notions about it, will allow them to approve your case.

Why would you ever want to reapply then? There are cases where a clean break from the prior evidence is a good thing. Sometimes, when I see the following in a case, I may encourage the person to reapply:

Drug use or alcohol abuse.
Incorrect evidence. A mistaken “fact” that keeps getting repeated over and over but cannot be disproven.
Unhelpful doctor.
A period of no treatment.

Of course, this is not a complete list. There can be other reasons which can suggest a new claim may be better than an appeal.

However, whenever considering dropping the old case, keep in mind that there are issues such as the date last insured which can prevent you from being able to reapply!

Tomasz Stasiuk is the founding attorney of the Stasiuk Firm - a law firm devoted to exclusively handling Social Security disability cases in Colorado. Contingent fees available.

N J

Plus, doesn’t re-applying change your start date? Which:
a) loses you all the back benefits from the original claim, and
b) you might no longer be “insured” and therefore only eligible for SSI instead of SSDI!

This happened to me: I missed the appeal date, sunk further into depression and didn’t re-file for a year. By that time I was very close to running out of “quarters” (turned out I had a few left, although I took so long to finish my new application I had to remind them that I was covered when I STARTED).

Then, I argued that IF they granted my claim NOW, then they SHOULD have granted my first claim, since nothing had changed. By bringing that top the judges attention, I picked up an extra 24 MONTHS of back benefits I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise!

And, yes, I won my own case–by a hair–despite my not getting all the “evidence” SSA forgot to order. $14K in my pocket…sweet!

Terrific web site and info. I am recommending it to all my friends who are in the process.
http://www.Planet10Tech.com TomaszStasiuk

Yup. You know your stuff!

By reapplying (vs appealing), an individual often loses their Protected Filing Date (PFD), which affects how far back they can be paid: http://www.socialsecurityinsider.com/2009/04/how-far-back-does-social-security-pay-benefits/

And a new application may put a person beyond their Date Last Insured (DLI) which may make them completely ineligible for SSDI/DIB/Title II benefits: http://www.socialsecurityinsider.com/2008/08/date-last-insured/

There are exceptions to both situations, however there is no guarantee of fitting into one of the exceptions (many people do not).

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading! Congratulations on winning your case.
Curious

What about if you have been denied at the hearing level? Is it better to appeal then, or reapply?
http://www.Planet10Tech.com TomaszStasiuk

The issues are similar at the hearing level. However, there is also whether an individual wants to have a hearing with the same ALJ if the case is remanded and whether there is even the option of starting a new claim, among other issues.

See:
http://www.socialsecurityinsider.com/2008/10/i-was-denied-at-hearing-what-do-i-do-now/
and
http://www.socialsecurityinsider.com/2008/09/how-to-appeal-a-hearing-denial-to-the-appeals-council/