Applying for Social Security Disability (SSD) is a difficult process, but many people don’t realize just how complex it might be. Some think that they have a case that will be approved right away because of their circumstances. The fact of the matter is that they often don’t fully understand the laws that apply to their case.
One thing that often impacts people in these situations is that they don’t expect the process to take as long as it does. They think they will be approved swiftly and that they won’t have to do anything else. The majority of SSD cases aren’t approved on the initial application. The applicant must appeal the matter, which takes a long time.
On average, people wait for 538 days for an SSD hearing. The average wait time for a hearing before an administrative law judge is 17.9 months in Illinois, but this depends largely on the office where the case is being heard. The Orland Park office has the shortest average wait time, which is 15 months. Nhc Chicago has the longest, which is 25 months.
During this time, they don’t get the benefits they need to survive. The only exception to this is if the person was on disability and then a ruling was handed down that they weren’t disabled any longer. In that case, they might choose to have benefits continued during the appeal.
Some applicants, around 80 percent, don’t have a lawyer work with them during the initial application phase, which might be a problem. Instead, they only hire one for the hearings, which is what happens in 78 percent of cases.
A lawyer familiar with these types of cases can check over the forms to ensure that everything is relayed in the appropriate manner. This might be the key to moving your application through the process without having avoidable delays.