Approved Clients
Congratulations! Liner Legal has helped you WIN your disability benefits! After this exciting, life changing news, there are many follow up questions that you may have about what happens next. Read below to find details about your program, and answers to any FAQs you may have.
Social Security Disability Benefits (SSDI) ONLY
If you were found eligible for SSDI only, your payments are determined by either a National Payment Center or a Regional Program Service Center. A Notice of Award is then issued with the following information:
- The months that you are eligible to receive benefits
- The total amount of benefits that you are due
- Information about when your benefits will be paid
Normally, if you are entitled to SSDI benefits only, payment is received relatively quickly after the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decision. On average, most of our clients who are awarded SSDI benefits begin receiving their regular monthly payments within 30 days of the ALJ decision.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) ONLY
If you were awarded SSI benefits only, the determination of your payments is made at your local Social Security office. You will be contacted by a claims representative from SSA and asked to provide financial information for every month that you are eligible for benefits. This includes:
- Financial assistance you may have had from family or friends
- Any work that you performed
- Any assets that you own
- Any money that is held in an account (bank, retirement, or otherwise)
Any income you may have received from unemployment, disability benefits, Workers Compensation, pension programs, or ANY other source. Because the eligibility for SSI is based on income, your eligibility for the program could change if you have had financial support from any other source. If you live some where for free, your benefits are usually reduced by one third of the maximum monthly rate. These benefits are calculated on a case by case basis. Due to the individual nature of these amounts, the Social Security Administration does not release any SSI payments until your local office confirms your financial eligibility. On average, it takes our clients between 30 to 60 days to receive their first payment. To make this process as speedy as possible, it is especially important to provide all the required financial information to the Social Security Administration (SSA) as soon as possible after your decision. If you fail to respond to these requests from the SSA, you will not receive your payments.
SSDI and SSI
If you were awarded both SSDI and SSI benefits, it is common to experience delays in the receipt of your past due benefits. For clients who have been approved for both programs, often past-due SSI benefits are awarded in addition to their regular monthly SSDI benefits. In these situations, after the amount of your past due benefits is determined, SSA will reduce your benefits by the amount determined by the SSA. It is common to experience delays of 2 to 6 months before you begin receiving your past due benefits. The reason for lengthy payment delays is that both your local SSA District Office and the National Benefit Center are required to complete work before you receive your past due benefits. If your SSI payments have not been determined by your local SSA office when the Payment Center processes your SSDI, your Notice of Award will indicate that your past due benefits cannot be released until after your SSI eligibility is determined. If the Payment Center and the District Office fail to communicate effectively, your payments will not be processed until the error is discovered.
Now that you know what happens after you’re approved for disability benefits, it’s time to answer your frequently asked questions. If there is anything you don’t see in this list of FAQs, please feel free to contact our team of Disability Warriors by clicking here.