29Nov

Getting problems solved at Social Security

By Tomasz Stasiuk, November 29th, 2010 | Building a Case | 2 Comments

I was recently asked how to take care of bad information in a Social Security file which was preventing the release of back Social Security disability benefits.

Of course the first issue is whether there is a deadline that may affect the individual’s rights. If there is, then the suggestions below may go out the window. You always have to first preserve your legal rights. There are often time limits and deadlines in Social Security cases. If you miss a deadline, your entire case may go away or at a minimun, you may lose some of your rights.

Put another way: these are tips on working with Social Security to get general problems solved:

Find out what the problem is. Just knowing that the benefits have not been released is not enough. You need to know what the hold up is. Is there an workers’ compensation issue? Incarceration? Prior overpayment?
Find out who is working on it. Get the name and direct extension of the person who is working on the file right now.
Follow up regularly. I do not recommend calling daily. Social Security is amazingly overworked and you have to give people time to work on things. When you speak to the case technician, ask when the current step should be resolved. Calendar that and call back to follow up.
Document your contact with SSA. Keep a notebook with your attempts to solve the problem, and with Social Security’s response.
Escalate if necessary. If the technician repeatedly fails to call you back when you leave messages, consider escalating the matter to the supervisor at that office. Be reasonable: don’t leave daily messages and expect a call back the same day. However, if you leave one message a week and after several weeks you still have not received a call back, escalate.
Congressional help. If all else fails and you have tried to leave messages, escalate, and you still cannot get a response out of Social Security, consider getting your Congress-person involved.

If you have suggestions on how to get problems solved at Social Security, be sure to share them in the comments. Thanks!

CC image credit: gruntzooki

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.