I recently attended the annual conference for the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR), of which I am a proud member, and I learned that I am doing one big thing right in my practice—I represent disability claimants at the initial application level.
Many larger disability practices will not take a case if the claimant has not already applied and received a denial. Similarly, many claimants believe that there is no benefit to hiring an attorney until they are denied. Data presented at the NOSSCR conference showed that 69% of SSDI claimants and 77% of SSI claimants are unrepresented at the initial application level. Unfortunately, only 10% of those unrepresented claimants who are denied will file an appeal of the decision. A lot of those claimants get the denial, get discouraged, and give up even though they know they can’t go back to work. The problem is that there are strict time limits to filing an appeal of a denial by Social Security—60 days from the date of the denial. I frequently get calls from claimants who tell me they got denied 6 months ago but didn’t know what to do next, so they did nothing, and I have to be the one to tell them that because they didn’t file the appeal in a timely manner, they have to start over. It is a vicious cycle, especially considering that the average processing time for an initial application in the state of Tennessee is 248 days.
The simple solution is to hire an attorney from the start. If the person has enough work credits for SSDI, I can file the application for a new client online in as little as 45 minutes. This gives me an excellent opportunity to make sure the application is completed correctly, which will help prevent delays in processing. The other big benefit to representing claimants at the initial level is that it gives me a chance to develop the case and to spot problems early on. It’s a win-win for me and my clients.
If you are thinking about applying for disability or have already applied but have not yet been denied, you should consult an attorney. Because we work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you won’t pay any fees unless you win, there is very little risk but plenty of reward.