Posts Tagged ‘Appeals’

Did you represent yourself at your Social Security disability hearing?
If you were denied, you may find it is difficult to find a lawyer to represent you if you 
Sadly, this is a common problem.  It is much harder to hire an attorney after you been denied.
Why?

If Social Security alleges that you owe them money to repay an overpayment, you have two choices to fight it:  

You can either file a “Waiver of Overpayment,” or 
You can file a “Request for Reconsideration.“

Social Security may direct you towards filing the waiver, but there are some things you should know before making a decision.

Tim Moore writes about his experience with claimants who wait patiently for Social Security to contact them after filing a claim or an appeal:
In the case of disability applications, some found that while they continued to wait on an answer, a decision had already been made on their case. In fact, the decision had been [...]

If you are denied at your Social Security hearing by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), you have the right to appeal the judge’s decision to the Social Security Appeals Council.  
To do this, you need to file form HA-520-U5 “Request for Review of Hearing Decision/Order.”  You only have 60 + 5 days to get the [...]

In my experience with Colorado Social Security cases, hearings are usually scheduled approximately 12-14 months after the appeal is filed.   That is the most common time frame that I see for having a hearing scheduled.
However,  I occasionally see cases scheduled as early as six months after the appeal (this is pretty rare), and sometimes as late [...]

To be found disabled, generally you have to show that you are unable to perform some type of full time work. This is a simplification of the Social Security disability standard, but it is sufficient for this article.
The most common problem in Social Security disability claims is a lack of a statement of limitations from a doctor.
These statements go [...]

I often hear the following question:
I just got my Social Security denial letter. Should I appeal or re-apply?
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.
As I mentioned in an earlier article, if you re-apply, [...]

You, or your child, are on Social Security, when out of the blue, you get a letter:
Your benefits will cease as of …
or
An overpayment was detected due to your failure to notify Social Security of your spouse’s income …
or
Since turning 18 years of age, we have determined that you are no longer disabled under our [...]

After you were denied Social Security disability benefits, you got the appeal forms, you struggled to fill them out, but you made sure to get it all turned in before the appeal deadline.
Then you wait.
And wait.
You should have heard something by now shouldn’t you?
So, you call Social Security, wade through their voicemail until you finally [...]

DisabilityAppeal.com has a interesting article on the importance of requesting the hearing tape if you are denied at hearing.
In many instances, once the tapes are obtained and listened to, parts of the record will be inaudible. And in a lot of cases [Social Security] can’t produce the tapes at all because they have been purportedly [...]

CBS reports on denials and long waiting periods in Social Security Disability cases.
Disability Pay Rejections A two-month CBS News investigation has revealed that many individuals who are disabled are either being rejected or waiting years for a decision on benefits. Armen Keteyian reports.Social Security Criticized
Part 1 (click for video)

The Social Security Administration refuses over two-thirds [...]

MYTH: Clients often tell me that you have to be denied two or three times before Social Security will approve your case. I am not sure how these rumors get started but unfortunately, this belief often causes people to take what may be the wrong action in their case.
REALITY: If you are denied [...]