79.3% of first disability petitions are turned down by DDS, or Disability Determination Services, offices, giving applicants time to file an appeal. If your application is denied, you have 60 days to file an appeal.
There are two phases to appeals: reconsideration and hearing. However, you have the choice to carry on your appeal in federal court if you lose your hearing.
Reconsideration
Compared to the hearing stage, your odds of securing SSI or SSDI at reconsideration are slim. Only 10% of applicants who requested a reconsideration in 2022 were granted benefits.
You can request that the SSA, or Social Security Administration, review your application at the federal level during the reconsideration phase. Your first application was processed by the DDS, your regional benefits office. The SSA normally reviews your reconsideration in roughly six months.
Read these suggestions for succeeding on reconsideration before making an appeal, and listen to the suggestions of your attorney, such as Kenton Koszdin Law Office.
Hearing
Scheduling a court hearing for your appeal is the next step after your reconsideration is rejected. A hearing on an appeal is attended by around half of those who are eligible for benefits. 54% of petitioners received benefits after hearings in 2022.
The judge’s decision on this hearing typically takes a month to reach and typically occurs one to one and a half years after the reconsideration decision. A Social Security appeal with a hearing stage has a better likelihood of success than one with a reconsideration stage. However, a lot of other elements also play a part.
Judges vary in terms of their allowance rates. Find out how many awards and denials each judge in your area has made here.
Your chances of receiving benefits will also be impacted by the specifics of your case. Some circumstances more closely match the requirements for a handicap than others, but just because a case is exceptional doesn’t mean it can’t be won.
The following were the top five reasons for refusing benefits at the hearing stage in 2019:
- The person’s ailment did not endure more than 12 months or was not anticipated to do so, i.e., 4.3%.
- The person’s condition was not deemed to be severe enough by the court, i.e., 24.8%.
- The court determined that the defendant could perform their previous work as usual, i.e., 8.6%.
- The person was deemed employable in another capacity by the court, i.e., 41.8%.
You must therefore establish at your hearing that you have a chronic illness that prevents you from working. You can make this case with the aid of a autism disability benefits for adults.
Federal tribunal
You have the option of taking your case to federal court if your appeal hearing is unsuccessful. The chances of obtaining SSDI in federal court, however, are quite slim.
But it’s also important to remember that even a slim chance is better than doing nothing.