Even though the Social Security Administration (SSA) provides resources for disabled individuals to file their own claims, most professionals would advise against it. For one, claim rejection rates are very high. As a claimant, you may think you are providing everything the SSA needs to make a decision. But missing one detail could mean the difference between an accepted or rejected claim. Additionally, it can take many months to receive an initial decision about a claim, and even more time for subsequent processes such as appeals filings to go through. A lawyer may be able to accelerate your claim or help you tap into other resources while you wait.
It is up to claimants to provide compelling evidence that their conditions prevent them from working in their own or comparable jobs and that the disability is expected to last at least one year. In its most recent statistical report, the SSA processed nearly 3 million claims but awarded benefits only 38.5 percent of the time. Denials can occur in a variety of ways, as shown by the following 2010 statistics:
- Many claims were denied without a medical determination. Known as technical denials, 898,834 claims did not meet other basic requirements for acceptance.
- Another 758,681 claims were denied for medical reasons.
- Out of over one million initial awards granted for medical reasons, 1,863 were subsequently denied for nonmedical reasons.
With a constant backlog of claims to process, the SSA denies many valid claims simply because the forms were not completed properly or claimants failed to provide enough proof of disability. Ohio disability lawyers understand how SSA claims adjustors analyze applications and can help clients provide the right information from the start. In addition, they can help fight unfair denials through appeals.