People sometimes ask whether it matters when you file for disability. The answer is definitely yes. When you file for disability, SSA will ask if your medical condition has lasted or can be expected to last for 12 months or more. If the answer is no, your application will be denied. Social Security provides no benefits for short term disability that lasts less than one year.
Does that mean that you must wait 12 months from the date you become disabled to file your claim? Absolutely not. If you expect your condition will last at least 12 months into the future, go ahead and file for benefits. It is in your best interest not to wait too long, for a number of reasons.
Let's look at an example. A worker named Joe has an injury and becomes unable to work on January 15, 2013. Social Security has a 5 month waiting period, so the earliest he could possibly qualify for benefits would be June, 2013. Social Security allows you to claim disability as far as one year before your application was filed. But Joe is busy and he doesn't get around to filing his application until October 1, 2014. Since benefits can only go back one year, he can only receive payment back to October 1, 2013, at the earliest. The payments that he could have received from May to October have been lost. This could potentially amount to thousands of dollars in benefits that can never be recovered.
Another reason not to wait is the simple fact that claims take so long to process. Progressing from initial application through the appeals phase to a decision can easily take 18 months or more. Those months of waiting don't start until the initial application is filed. The sooner you file, the sooner you can get a decision from SSA.
Have other questions about filing for disability? Give our local office a call today. We will be happy to offer you our best guidance at no cost to you.
(615) 732-6159
Franklin, TN (Nashville) office
(256) 799-0297
Huntsville, AL office
www.ForsytheDisability.com
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