The Long Term Disability Appeal Process

If you are fighting a long term disability denial, then a long term disability appeal to social security may inevitably be your best bet.  Usually, if your disability claim is denied, then you will receive notification in the form of a letter (from the Social Security Administration) in the mail.  As soon as you receive the notification, should you not be in agreement with the decision, you have the right to appeal the initial decision.  Basically, an appeal simply asks the insurer (in this case Social Security Administration) to review your claim in its entirety again.  Normally, another claims representative will be assigned to your case for purposes of re-reviewing your claim. 

The Process of Appealing

The process is pretty straightforward, in that you will need to make a written request for an appeal within a sixty day window of receipt of the initial decision letter.  Depending on the reasons why your claim was denied, you may have several options. You can either complete the appeal online or you can submit via regular mail.  If you decide to complete the appeal online, be aware that it is a two part process:

• First, you will need to fill out the Internet Appeal Request form, and
• The second part of the process is to fill out the Appeal Disability Report. 
• The second form (or the Appeal Disability Report form) provides the claims representatives at Social Security Administration with as much information as possible about your medical condition.  It is this information that will enable Social Security to perform a thorough review of the initial decision as contrast with your imminent condition. 
• When you appeal online, you should submit both forms, although the only form required for online submission is the Appeal Request form.  Usually, filing an Internet appeal will take approximately one hour to complete.

Contacting the SSA

If, by chance, you discover that filing an Internet appeal is not for you, then you might consider making an appeal, the old fashioned way via telephone, or via the regular mail.  If you choose to appeal your claim over the telephone you will need to call up Social Security directly and speak with a representative.  You can either call toll free or call your local Social Security office .  When you call you will need to have your denial notice handy.  The denial notice will disclose the type of appeal that you should file.  Additionally, you can go to Social Security’s website and print the Appeal Disability Report and the Authorization to Disclose Information to SSA.  Once you fill in the forms you can mail them to your local Social Security Office.

Getting Help

An experienced disability attorney can help you appeal your claim to the social security administration for your long term disability denial. An attorney can also help you with a long term disability appeal to your insurance company, and can help you throughout the entire process of trying to get the disability to which you are entitled.