The Benefits of Obtaining Legal Help in Your Area When Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits

If you find yourself in the process of applying for Social Security disability benefits, you may benefit by obtaining a legal advocate from your area If you plan on going it alone, there are some disturbing facts that may make you want to change your mind. According to the Social Security Administrations Annual report in 2006, less than 33% of workers that were disabled actually obtained the awards for the claims they were seeking. This means that over 66% of disability claims are declined the first go around. The denial rate actually increases at the reconsideration level.

What is the Social Security Disability Program? This program typically awards benefits for those that have become disabled in their line of work. Since they are disabled, they are now limited in their ability to perform the required job functions. This is what the Social Security Disability program deems "substantial gainful activity." In other words, because of the disability, a person is no longer able to work at full capacity to earn an income.

In order to be considered for Social Security disability claims, you must be able to show that you have previously been insured. Generally, if you have worked long enough, you should have contributed enough money to be Social Security program. The Social Security program then determines your eligibility.

Working with Social Security Disability Attorneys from your area can help increase your chances of successfully receiving benefits. They can help you and keeping your medical records and other documents together. Without them, it may be difficult to prove when you have actually become disabled on-the-job. You must be able to prove that you have been unable to obtain gainful employment due to physical health problems or mental impairment for 12 consecutive months just to be considered for disability insurance. That means that if you have other issues like alcoholism or substance abuse you will not be considered.

A claim for Social Security Disability Insurance is approved by an Administrative Law Judge or the Social Security Administration, and if you are approved, you will likely receive regular payments. There is also a term called the "five-month waiting period" that signifies the first benefit payment because of this set around the time that a person's disability has surpassed five months. There are other scenarios where you may also receive smaller awards if you received the disability at a younger age.

Since the economy has been in the doldrums in the past couple years, there has also been an increase in Social Security Disability Claims. This means that the barriers to receiving benefits have been increased. If you are denied benefits from your initial claim, you have 60 days to request an appeal that must be in writing. If your claims were denied based on medical issues, there is an option to apply for an appeal over the Internet.

There are four levels in the appeal process. They are:

Reconsideration

Hearing by an Administrative Law Judge

Review by the Appeals Council

Federal Court Review

When you go through the reconsideration process, you must know that reviews by people that were not involved in the first denial decision. By working with Social Security Disability Attorneys, you have the opportunity to submit new evidence that may have been omitted the first time. Their expertise will help you get around the hurdles you may experience yourself. It is better to rely on their expertise so that you get the best representation that you need.