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Getting Help For A Denied Disability Claim

If your application for social security disability benefits has been denied, it's time to start the appeals process. This can be a long and complicated process and one for which you need the help of an experienced disability lawyer. In the appeals process, you must show why the social security administration was wrong in their denial of your claim and why it warrants being approved. Here is how your lawyer will approach this process to get you back into the queue for disability benefits.

Countering the Rejection

Your attorney will identify why the information in your initial application caused the denial. There are a number of mistakes that could've been made on the application, such as:

  • reporting more income than what is allowable to receive disability benefits
  • explaining that the injury will be healed in less than a year, allowing you to go back to work.
  • not reporting other medical treatment that you've had that could relate to your disability
  • reporting that you refused treatment for the injury

Your lawyer will put together the information necessary to correct these mistakes in your initial application.

On the Record (OTR) Decision

Your lawyer will get together new medical information, healthcare provider testimonies and other data to support that you are qualified for benefits. They will create a legal brief that explains how your medical condition doesn't allow you to work. The lawyer will also draft a decision to recommend to the administrative law judge that was assigned to your appeals case.

This set of information clarifies what was included in the initial application and adds more justification for why you should receive disability benefits.

To get this information in front of the judge, your lawyer must work with the attorney adjudicator on the case. If they are convinced that you have a case for receiving benefits, they will present the information to judge.

Should the attorney adjudicator choose to not present your case to the judge, or the judge rejects your claim again, you're looking at the final appeals process, which is a hearing to dispute the judge's decision.

The Appeals Hearing

If you're faced with another rejection and are in the final appeals process, your lawyer will face lawyers from the Social Security Administration to present your case, The other lawyers will present their reasons for the denial and the judge will decide for or against you. If you are denied benefits during the hearing, you cannot apply for benefits for the same disability again.

For more information, talk to a professional like R.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C.


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