Sending an application to Social Security Administration to claim SSDI benefits could be a long process. Moreover, if it is denied it could definitely be very frustrating. There are many requirements to meet. For instance, plenty of information and medical reports to gather. In addition to work-related stuff and an endless checklist to double-check. Luckily, appealing an application decision is possible, so do not hesitate to give it a go.
In fact, there are four different opportunities to request a review of it. Hopefully, you will not have to go through all these four steps. Perhaps, the first one or the second is enough. Needless to say that the effort to get SSDI will pay off if you are right about your appeal. Do not give up or get discouraged if Social Security Administration refuses your first or second appeal.
According to SSA the four different stages to get a review of your application for SSDI benefits are the following – “Request reconsideration”, “Hearing with a judge”, “Review of hearing decision”, and finally “File federal district court action”. So, the first thing to do is to request SSA to reconsider its decision. However, do not delay this step in time since there is a deadline.
How many days do you have to request reconsideration related to your SSDI benefits application?
From the same day you get the application decision, you have 60 days to request it. During that period you could claim a non-medical or disability reconsideration. It will be an examiner working in the Disability Determination Services the one in charge of this process. This examiner will pay close attention to your original application as well as review your request.
Bear in mind that you could do the Disability Appeal online. Sending a fax or mail is also possible. Moving on to the second step, the hearing with a judge is next. If you disagree with their decision, an administrative law judge will now take care of your request. Once more you have up to 60 days to ask for it. If it is the case that they refuse it once more, and you disagree with their response, go on with the next step to get SSDI benefits.
After these two steps, the review of the hearing decision is the third option. In this case, it will not be an administrative law judge but the Appeals Council. The deadline is 60 days as well. The Appeals Council Request for Review is available online too. It will only take up to 15 minutes but you need to do it before leaving the page. The final option if the previous one fails is to file a federal district court action. The U.S. District Court is in charge of it now. Do it here within 60 days. So this is all related to the SSDI appeal.