Have You Been Denied Social Security Disability Benefits?
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Approximately 460,000 Florida residents receive Social Security Disability benefits. Thousands apply for benefits each year following following an accident or illness resulting in long-term or permanent disability. And each year 65% of Florida's initial Social Security Disability applications are denied by the Social Security Administration despite the fact that the majority of these are, in fact, legitimate disability claims. Once an application is denied, the applicant can then appeal this decision. However, the vast majority of Florida's Social Security Disability applicants are denied once more during the Request for Reconsideration, which is the initial stage of the appeals process. In fact, most Florida applicants for Social Security Disability benefits must request a hearing before an administrative law judge before receiving benefits.
Of course, just obtaining a hearing before an administrative law judge is a process in itself, a process that can take quite a bit of time. In Florida, it takes between 376 and 682 days to be granted a disability hearing. Following the hearing, it takes another 45 to 90 days to get any sort of decision regarding a Social Security Disability claim. So basically, anyone with a legitimate Social Security Disability claim in the state of Florida can expect to spend more than 2 years in limbo while waiting for an appeal decision to be reached.
Any applicant who requests a Social Security Disability hearing, whether in Florida or anywhere else in the United States, is at the mercy of the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. You must visit the ODAR office that serves your local area, so the amount of time it takes to receive your hearing and receive a decision is largely based on just how busy your local field office happens to be at any given time. The ODAR office serving the greater Fort Myers area, including Naples and Port Charlotte, takes an average of eleven months to schedule a Social Security Disability hearing.
Of course, there is a way to hasten the Social Security Disability process and avoid these outrageous wait times. By hiring a qualified Florida Social Security Disability attorney to guide you through the initial phase of the disability claim process you can greatly increase your chances of receiving a favorable decision without going through the lengthy hassle of the appeals process.
Only an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer can help to ensure that you gather all of the medical evidence and other documentation necessary to support your disability benefits claim. Only a seasoned Social Security Disability lawyer will present your application to the SSA in the best possible light, thereby greatly increasing your chances of obtaining approval during the initial stage of the application process.
If, for whatever reason, your initial claim for Social Security Disability benefits is denied, your lawyer will then represent you during the appeals stage of the disability claim process. If your claim is denied at the initial appeals stage, your lawyer will represent you before the administrative law judge. (Although it's possible to represent yourself during this hearing, it's probably not the greatest idea to do so.)
If you are just starting out with your Social Security Disability benefits application, contact All Injuries Law Firm to make sure you start out on the right foot. Of course, even if you started the process on your own and are now facing a potentially lengthy and frustrating appeals process, it is not too late to seek expert legal counsel. Let All Injuries Law Firm guide you through the remainder of your Social Security Disability benefits appeal. And if a hearing is what it takes to push your benefits claim all the way through to “Approved,” we can expertly represent you before the Florida administrative law judge selected to make a decision on your claim.