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Trantolo & Trantolo is not currently accepting cases for Social Security Disability. Please check in the future for any updates.
1. Approval Takes a Long Time
Applying just one month after you find yourself unable to work might be too late; the process has been known to take up to a year before you receive any benefits. If you have to go through the appeals process, the cost of your medical bills will continue to rise until you no longer have the funds to pay them.
2. Your Insurance Will Expire
When you research SSD, you’ll come across the phrase “Date Last Insured,” or DLI. This deadline can be difficult to determine. To remain eligible for SSD, you need to have worked 20 out of the past 40 quarters, or five out of the past 10 years. It is also important to note that the deadline starts from the time that you filed your SSD application, not when you stopped working or when your disability began.
In many cases, claimants have been known to be out of work for a few years before filing a claim. While there are exceptions to the DLI rules, such as using a protective filing date before you begin your application or showing your disability started well in advance of the DLI, the first step to getting your claim approved is filing before your DLI expires.
3. You Lose Back Pay
Once you’re approved, you’ll recover some of the disability payments you are owed. However, if you wait several years you could be cutting yourself short. What many don’t realize is that the SSA only does back pay for 12 months before the filing date. For instance, if you’ve been out of work because of a disability for two years, filing later means you’ll lose one year’s pay.
4. Financial Hardships
How much money do you have saved for medical treatments? Delaying your filing date causes your funds to diminish at a much faster rate than you can afford. As many soon realize, you might have to discontinue your medical treatments and medications that make your life living with a disability much easier if you cannot pay.
5. The SSA Prefers Current Medical Information
While the SSA will not discount retroactive records, the committee evaluating your claim prefers to look at current medical information.
This is not to say that your claim will not be approved, but sending in an application with older tests and supporting documents may result in the SSA requesting multiple medical examination.
