Social Security Disability 101

If you have filed for Social Security Disability, you must first go through the approval process. Once approved, you will get a benefit verification letter and begin receiving benefits. Before you apply, it is helpful to understand the process you are likely to go through.

Applying for Disability

You can apply for disability by proving:

• That you have worked for the required time. This varies based on your age
• That you are disabled.
• That your disability is either on the SSA list of impairments or severe enough to be equivalent to those listed (i.e. that it sufficiently interferes with your daily life and ability to work

Medical evidence is key to being accepted. Your claim will be reviewed by the SSA to make a determination on eligibility.

Eligibility for Disability

Once you have gone through the approval process, you must wait for the benefit verification letter, which is mailed shortly before your first check will be issued to notify you that the money is on the way. The benefit verification letter is typically mailed when your benefits have been approved, and is usually set to arrive within ten days of the approval notification being made within the social security office. 

If you have not received your benefit verification letter within this time period, there may have been a problem with the postal service, or with the address used by the Social Security Administration to send out your benefit verification letter, so you will want to check with the Social Security Administration to see what date the letter was mailed on and what address it was mailed to.

The Social Security Administration always mails the benefit verification letter to the address that is on file with the Social Security Administration.  If you have moved or if your address has changed, you will need to check with the Social Security Administration and update this information to make sure that the benefit verification letter will arrive at your new, corrected address.  In addition, if you moved and forgot to submit forwarding information to the post office, or if the mail forwarding time period has since expired, you will need to correct the address with the Social Security Administration.

Benefits are typically received within two weeks of the receipt of the benefit verification letter, and will be received a the address on file with the Social Security Administration where the benefit verification letter was sent to, or in the case of a direct deposit authorization for the benefits, they will be directly deposited into the account number that was given at that time. 

Getting Help

The best way to move through the social security disability process is with the help of a qualified attorney. He can assist you in gathering the evidence you need to prove you are disabled and in ensuring that your application is approved without hassle so you can start to get the money you need.