The Appeals Council is the last level of disability decision making in the Social Security Administration. If your disability claim is denied by a judge after a hearing you can appeal your case to the Appeals Council (AC) for a review of the hearing decision. Most AC reviews occur because the person seeking benefits asked the AC for the review. For more on appeals to the AC read our other article about appealing to AC.
The Appeals Council can review a hearing decision even if no appeal was made. This is referred to as a review “on its own motion” since no request for review was submitted by the person seeking benefits. The Appeals Council has 60 days after the date of a disability hearing decision to determine whether it will review a case on its own motion. However, the Appeals Council can get around the 60 day deadline by using regulations that provide for the reopening of cases that meet certain criteria. These criteria are described in sections 404.988, 404.989, 416.1488, and 416.1489 of Title 20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
If the Appeals Council decides to review a case on its own motion it mails a notice of this action to the disability claimant and their attorney if they have one. The Appeals Council should issue a final determination within 110 days after the date of its decision to review the case. If the Appeals Council does not issue a final determination within 110 days the disability claimant can receive temporary benefits until the final determination is made. The temporary benefits do not have to be repaid even if the Appeals Council ultimately makes an unfavorable decision.
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