If your Social Security disability claim is denied (75% are), you must file an appeal within 60 days of the denial.
In Alabama and the other 9 prototype states, you request a hearing. This must be done within 60 days of receiving the denial notice (you may add 5 additional days for mailing time). Appeals must be requested in writing; phone calls do not preserve your rights. The request for a hearing should be addressed to your local Social Security office and must include your name, Social Security number and address. The request should have the current date written on it. Be sure to keep a copy for your file.
If your request was filed in a timely manner (within the 65 days allowed), you will eventually be scheduled for a hearing before a US administrative law judge (ALJ). The waiting time go get a hearing averages around 13 months because of the current backlog.
Requesting the hearing is the easy part. Preparing to present the medical and vocational evidence required to win the hearing is the more difficult part. 80% of all claimants are now represented at hearings. The representative's job is to gather and prepare the evidence, develop a legal theory of how to win the case, anticipate problems that hurt your odds for approval, write a brief for the judge and prepare the claimant for what to expect at the hearing. The representative will accompany the claimant to the hearing and will guide the claimant (you) through the procedure.
You have the right to attend a hearing without representation but this is probably not wise. Hearing award rates nationally now hover at around 48%, the lowest in the history of the Social Security disability program (which started in 1956). 85% of claimants are professionally represented at hearings, so imagine how low the award rates must be for those who are unrepresented. A representative may not charge you a fee unless you win your case at the hearing and recover past due benefits.
In Alabama and the other 9 prototype states, you request a hearing. This must be done within 60 days of receiving the denial notice (you may add 5 additional days for mailing time). Appeals must be requested in writing; phone calls do not preserve your rights. The request for a hearing should be addressed to your local Social Security office and must include your name, Social Security number and address. The request should have the current date written on it. Be sure to keep a copy for your file.
If your request was filed in a timely manner (within the 65 days allowed), you will eventually be scheduled for a hearing before a US administrative law judge (ALJ). The waiting time go get a hearing averages around 13 months because of the current backlog.
Requesting the hearing is the easy part. Preparing to present the medical and vocational evidence required to win the hearing is the more difficult part. 80% of all claimants are now represented at hearings. The representative's job is to gather and prepare the evidence, develop a legal theory of how to win the case, anticipate problems that hurt your odds for approval, write a brief for the judge and prepare the claimant for what to expect at the hearing. The representative will accompany the claimant to the hearing and will guide the claimant (you) through the procedure.
You have the right to attend a hearing without representation but this is probably not wise. Hearing award rates nationally now hover at around 48%, the lowest in the history of the Social Security disability program (which started in 1956). 85% of claimants are professionally represented at hearings, so imagine how low the award rates must be for those who are unrepresented. A representative may not charge you a fee unless you win your case at the hearing and recover past due benefits.
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