How To Speed Up The Social Security Disability Claims Process
Posted on: 21 November 2017
When you apply for Social Security Disability benefits, your intake worker will tell you that it can take up to six months to get a response. However, there are some ways to speed up the process and get your claim response much faster.
Collect ALL Documentation Yourself
Sure, you can sign documents that allow the Social Security office to obtain documents from your doctors, but that is usually what slows down this process. Instead, sign those documents, but go get copies of your health records from every doctor you have ever seen for every ailment for which you have been diagnosed. When you have all of your medical records in hand, see a Social Security Disability attorney before the deadline listed on your paperwork.
Hire a Social Security Disability Attorney
More people get their claims handled and pushed through faster when they hire an attorney, such as Horn & Kelley, PC Attorneys at Law. If you try to do this on your own, you will be denied. In fact, almost all first-time claimants who do their own paperwork are denied. Do not let your application go on the denial pile: hire the attorney.
Also, be sure to hand the completed application and ALL of your medical documents to the attorney. He or she will examine them to see if there is anything missing that would cause your application to be denied. If something is still missing (despite your thorough efforts), your lawyer will tell you what you need to get and how to get it. Then your lawyer will send the entire application packet personally to the Social Security office closest to you.
Sign All Verbal Consent Forms
If you have friends and family who can attest to the nature and extent of your disability, make sure that each person fills out his or her own verbal consent form and signs it. You will also sign these forms and add them to the packet before your lawyer sends it in. Then the Social Security office and your intake worker cannot dawdle about waiting to talk to your contacts about your disability, since they will have exactly what they need right in front of them.
Cut the Response Time in Half
When you do all of the above, the response time to your application is usually cut by one to three months, and sometimes by even half the wait. Then the only things that the intake worker needs is sworn affidavits from your doctors stating that they have treated you for these conditions and that they feel you are unable to work. When the intake worker gets back all of the doctors' affidavits, your response is mailed and the process is complete.
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