The Social Security Administration (SSA) will send you letters that tell you their decision at each step in the process. A typical disability claim will take several months to be decided by the state agency in your state. When you get your initial application’s decision in the mail it will tell you if you have been awarded benefits or if your claim has been denied.
When you are denied disability benefits you have appeal options which give you a way to still win your case. In your denial letter it will tell you how you can appeal that unfavorable decision. If you are handling your case on your own you want to be extremely careful how you file your appeals. When you have a legal representative they will handle this for you.
Never Miss an Appeal Deadline
Not only do you want to follow the instructions in the denial letter exactly, you also want to be able to prove that you did so. That means you should complete your appeal request in writing, and then either hand deliver it and get a receipt or mail it certified mail return receipt requested to the Social Security address in the denial letter. Your green card that the post office will return to you will prove you sent Social Security a letter to them and that they got it. Keep a copy of the letter too, and if necessary you will be able to prove you sent a timely appeal in the event SSA claims they never received it and dismisses your case.
Out of all the people who file for disability benefits nationally, a huge percentage of them give up once they have been denied. Do not make that mistake! A significant amount of people who are initially denied, but properly appeal will eventually win later on in the process. Keep your case alive by properly appealing denials yourself, or get a disability lawyer and to file timely appeals for you.
