Social Security Disability Question

[vanman2300]

I met with an attorney that filed an initial claim for SSDI on my behalf. I'm late 50s PTSD, and have injuries from a gruesome accident years ago that have returned to affect my back (one of the fractures was my spine). 

I got a call from my attorney because Social Security is asking for a bank account and the routing number among one or two other pieces of information. Is this a good indicator that they are approvng my claim?

 

[Trebor English]

If your lawyer is a Nigerian princess that came highly recommended by the prince of Liberia it is surely a good sign. : )

 

[GotSmart]

Make sure first.

 

[PathofAsha]

Your bank information is needed on the initial SSDI application. SSDI cannot start to process your app until all the info is filled in. It's by direct deposit only so the sooner you give them what they need, the quicker the process will go.

 

[Vanholio]

This is not a direct answer to your question, but instead some advice. A friend of mine is going for disability now. SS keeps asking her for more info, often with short turnaround times. Her lawyer said they play games like that to make you miss a deadline or provide wrong info so they can deny your claim. In other words, same game as private insurance plays. Keep sharp!

 

[Wabbit]

What did your lawyer say?

Edit: never mind I'm a moron, missed the part that said it was your lawyer who called you.

 

[DrJean]

On another site (mental health) 99% of those who apply for SSDI are refused AT LEAST the first time... many also the second time... some only qualify once they obtain an attorney. Stupid system imo.

Good wishes! It is a mind game with some employees there that have none.

 

[SoulRaven]

This is not a direct answer to your question, but instead some advice. A friend of mine is going for disability now. SS keeps asking her for more info, often with short turnaround times. Her lawyer said they play games like that to make you miss a deadline or provide wrong info so they can deny your claim. In other words, same game as private insurance plays. Keep sharp!

Hey Vanholio, 

I clicked and dared. Loved your site. I found so much fun stuff to read and ideas.

Nomadic Mario

 

[ben2go]

Interesting. I applied twice own my own and then got a lawyer and won my case. It wasn't a requirement to give any of my financial info. After I was awarded, that's a stupid term they use, the disability benefits that I paid for, I then was given the option of direct deposit or an SS debit card in which I could receive my monthly check. I, of course, went direct deposit directly through my county SS office. I didn't mail any of my info to anyone or give it anyone except the lady I talked to in person at the SS office. I even set my son's benefit checks up to be delivered to his savings account without me ever touching the money.


Just a minor rant. It's really $h!tty that we work and pay in. Then are denied our benefits. I have been having health problems since I was a young child. At age 35 I finally WON my CASE and was AWARDED MY BENEFITS. It took a half dozen doctors private, provided by my lawyer, and by the SS disability judge to be AWARDED what I and many others should have been given after initial proof of disabilities. The government controls everything and everybody. They play GOD by knowing everything about everyone and everything. They still don't trust citizens or the doctors that care for us. It's a sad state our country is in. Of course, this is all my opinion and the way I view things from where I sit.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[broken ed]

I've been on disability for five years after a bad wreck, I don't think there is a sign vanman2300. SS will run it's course.

Sorry you had such a bad experience with SS ben2go. I applied myself online with no lawyer. I followed their instructions, yes difficult. But was approved the first time. My life long disabilities and disability from the wreck however are well documented. I think you made a good choice with direct deposit. My understanding is that SS doesn't have a debit card, it's a company issued card and has fess.

 

[Goshawk]

And there are those who game the system and can work fine. So we need some controls. Just not the horror treatment that many are given from employees that have no empathy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Headache]

No but whenever I go to a Social Security office I'm either treated like a criminal or an inconvenience. I didn't ask to become disabled nor did I want to. Heh this was an old thread.

 

[broken ed]

And there are those who game the system and can work fine. So we need some controls. Just not the horror treatment that many are given from employees that have no empathy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Goshawk; there might some that "game" the system," however I can assure you first hand there are "controls" in place.

My application for disability was more then 100 pages. They check your work and medical history. You give up every ounce of privacy with regard to your health and medical records. You must document and account for your activities for ever hour of the day. Family members are also required to provide statements. To this day I have no idea what my doctors and family said in the the application process. I also was examined by two Social Security Administration Doctors that are trained to spot cheaters. My process reached back more then five decades. This all takes months, some wait years, all while not able to work or support themselves while workers at the SSA pour over hundreds of pages for a single case. Yes, sometimes those workers are short with you, but put yourself in their place, handling thousands of desperate people who have no way to support themselves and in many cases manage their medical condition. Some don't have the capacity to complete the process and simply drop off the radar. If, and once, you are approve; you are subject to review the entire process at anytime. Yes, there are "controls" in place,  all this for an income that is far below minimum wage in any state. And yes, employers, if they would follow the law, we may have less people on disability.

It is far, far more likely that there are many more that should be on disability that con not qualify because the system is so rigorous.

 

[ben2go]

No but whenever I go to a Social Security office I'm either treated like a criminal or an inconvenience. I didn't ask to become disabled nor did I want to. Heh this was an old thread.

I found that to be true with some of the people that work in the SS public office. They're very holier than thou and speak with a condescending tone. It's different when dealing with the court systems and legal side of things here which is in the federal building. They always seem to be friendly and helpful.

Hey Goshawk; there might some that "game" the system," however I can assure you first hand there are "controls" in place.

My application for disability was more then 100 pages. They check your work and medical history. You give up every ounce of privacy with regard to your health and medical records. You must document and account for your activities for ever hour of the day. Family members are also required to provide statements. To this day I have no idea what my doctors and family said in the the application process. I also was examined by two Social Security Administration Doctors that are trained to spot cheaters. My process reached back more then five decades. This all takes months, some wait years, all while not able to work or support themselves while workers at the SSA pour over hundreds of pages for a single case. Yes, sometimes those workers are short with you, but put yourself in their place, handling thousands of desperate people who have no way to support themselves and in many cases manage their medical condition. Some don't have the capacity to complete the process and simply drop off the radar. If, and once, you are approve; you are subject to review the entire process at anytime. Yes, there are "controls" in place,  all this for an income that is far below minimum wage in any state. And yes, employers, if they would follow the law, we may have less people on disability.

It is far, far more likely that there are many more that should be on disability that con not qualify because the system is so rigorous.

I agree. I went through the same things you described. I left very puzzled after my day in court. They knew things about my life that could have only come by way of backtracing my SSN or speaking personally with some of my family.

The judge asked me this question, " When did you file for disability?" Keep in mind that I filed twice, once online and once in person, before having a lawyer file for me. That's a total of three times. Any way I answer the question, I am both right and wrong. I answered with the date I first filed for disability. This put me in a catch 22 sort of situation. The judge called me out for being wrong. I was asked to leave the courtroom with my lawyer and amend my statement, where my lawyer explained to me about the trick question. Then, I wrote out and signed a statement stating the date my lawyer filed for me. When my trial was done, I was denied six years back pay. I was awarded one year back pay and my monthly check was cut by almost $500. My lawyer filed a couple appeals for my back pay and monthly cut in my check. They were all denied. It was a sick feeling to know I lost between $120,000 and $130,000 in back pay on top of the $500 a month cut in pay. I haven't worked since 12/7/07. I received my first SSD check the month I won my case on 4/7/13. I still haven't recovered financially and probably never will. That back pay would have at least saved my family from a lot of problems with me not being able to work. All because I answered a trick question wrong.

My apologies if this sounds like a rant but it gives some insight into what happens for some of us. Every county in every state and every judge makes each case highly individualized. I've never heard of two similar SSD stories.

 

[VanKitten]

In every study I have read from independent research group indicates that the actual amount of cheating is a very small percentage.

Further, the cost for all the multiple layer of bureaucracy to catch those cheater is costing taxpayers far than the actual savings,

All this while cause a great deal of pain to those who need it.

When did this nation become so miserly?

 

[John61CT]

When did this nation become so miserly?

Well of course a nation is not one being.

Large percentages of the population have felt since the whole concept of a government safety net was first floated, that it's an unrealistic idea, poor citizens should just be allowed to die, etc.

More civilized developed nations settled that question some time ago, here in the US it's still an open question up for debate.

We have allowed a small percentage of citizens to become extremely wealthy beyond any rational basis, and more importantly, allowed that small % to exercise disproportionate power in our so-called democratic politics.

The ever-increasingly skilled and systematic application of propoganda have been used to convince the less educated masses to adopt political-economic philosophies that support the agenda of the very wealthy, rather than more rational policies in the interests of ordinary people.

To the point that empirical science and evidence-based rationality itself is now under open attack, expertise itself considered suspect.

Darker days are ahead I'm afraid, to the point where the key question becomes can TPTB effectively prevent an inevitable armed uprising?

 

[broken ed]

I still have hope, and the comments express here reinforce that hope. Hopefully we haven't gotten off too far topic vanman2300 and your able to gain some insight by reading between some of the lines.

I am incredibly fortunate in my wreck, they found me unconscious and woke a week later in the hospital with no memories, and that my wife still works. I'm much better off then many of you.

But there are answers in the pages of this website to live very cheaply. I've done it the past, as far back as the mid 1980s, I've had to, because I've had disabilities all my life, but worked until the wreck. And for those that don't know, the longer you work the more you get for disability from SSA if approved.

It may be cliche but,,, the higher you fly, the further you fall. I feel confident that if something happened to my wife I could make because of what I've been through and the way I've had to live in the past. And that life would be better because of the ideas shared here.

 

[cyndi]

Some of you are teetering in the edge of political. Let's not go there

 

[HerzeleidMeister]

@vanman2300 the original poster...

I've been on disability since 2003. I applied in about 2000 and it took three years to get approved. I hired a lawyer and was finally able to get mine in 2003, but not without some bumps along the way. The system really is set up to try their dead level best to not approve your disability no matter what its for or how long you have been disabled. For me since it was in 2003, it was before they actually did away with checks. So there was no debit card or direct deposit at that time. So, I do not remember them asking me for that info, but it could just be because they did not require that and that time.