Social Security disability benefits under Title II can be recovered back to the latter of-- (a) the onset of your disability, or (b) 12 months prior to the date of your disability application. In other words, you can pick up retroactive benefits back to the date you became disabled but not more than 12 months prior to the date you filed your disability application.
To maximize your disability benefit, you need to apply as soon as you become unable to work, if you believe you will be off work for at least 12 continuous months.
I recently represented an individual who was in his twenties and had a disability since birth. Since he had never applied for Social Security disability before, I could only recover benefits from the date of his application, which amounted to a few months.
Under Supplemental Security Income (SSI), another program administered by Social Security, the claimant becomes eligible for benefits on the first day of the month after the application is filed. So, if an SSI claim is filed in January of 2012, the earliest date of eligibility would be February 1, 2012. "Back pay" would be available back to February but not before, regardless of when the disability started.
If your claim is denied, it is always better to appeal the original claim than to file a new claim. An appeal will protect your original filing date and allow you to claim benefits at least back to that date. If you file a new claim, however, your "protected date" becomes the date of the new claim and you lose back due benefits.
A disability advocate or representative will try to recover as much retroactive benefit as possible. This is why dates are so important in the Social Security disability process.
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