Common Reasons for SSD Denials in Alabama
Our Alabama disability attorney often sees people get denied for Social Security Disability for reasons like these:
- Forms improperly filled out. It seems petty, but if you make a small mistake in the way you fill out Social Security Disability forms, the people who review your application are likely to reject it. With millions of applications to review, they’ll just stamp it “denied” and move on.
- Incomplete application. You face many pages and sections of information to complete. Some of the sections may not apply to you. But be careful. If you leave something out, you’ll get denied 100% of the time.
- Insufficient medical evidence. Your case won’t mean much to Social Security if you don’t have medical records to back it up. This includes exam reports, test results, medical imaging, treatment history, hospitalization records and more.
- Not following treatment plans. One of the things your medical records show is that you are making a true effort to manage your condition by following doctors’ orders. If you’re not getting regular medical treatment, Social Security may doubt you.
- Working too much. Social Security Disability benefits are for people who can’t work. If you’re able to work and earn more than a limited monthly amount set by Social Security, they’ll say you don’t need benefits.
One of the first steps in appealing your disability denial is studying and identifying why you were denied.
During your appeal, you can fix those problems in your file and improve your chance of winning benefits.
Your Social Security Disability lawyer from The Clarkson Firm has seen thousands of disability applications, knows what to look for when you’ve been denied, and knows how to appeal.
Start with a completely free conversation about your disability benefits denial and what to do next.
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How to Appeal a Disability Benefits Denial: The Multi-Step Process
When you start a disability benefits appeal, you have several steps ahead of you:
- Reconsideration: This is your first chance at reversing your denial. You ask Social Security to reconsider. They’ll have someone new take a fresh look at your case. Very few people get approved at this step—only about 2%—but it’s a required step to keep your disability claim alive.
- Disability hearing: If you’re denied on reconsideration, you can ask for a hearing with a Social Security administrative law judge. This may be the most important step. You get to talk to a Social Security decision maker in person. The number of people approved goes up at this level.
- Appeals Council: If the disability judge denies you, you can ask a central group at Social Security, called the Appeals Council, to review the judge’s decision.
- Federal court: If the Social Security Appeals Council still denies you, you can ask a federal court judge, outside of Social Security, to review your case and send it back with orders for a different decision.
It can take up to a year to get a decision on your disability benefits application. If you need to seek a reconsideration, it will take several more months to get an answer on that.
When you’re going to a hearing with an administrative law judge, the wait stretches out again. In Alabama as of 2023, it was taking about a year to reach a hearing, the same as the national average wait time.
But after all the waiting, if you’re finally approved you’ll be awarded a lump sum of back benefits to compensate you for the time.
And if you bring a representative with you to your hearing, someone like a disability attorney, one government study found your chances of approval are almost three times better.
Your Alabama disability lawyer from The Clarkson Firm is here to help when you’ve been denied your disability benefits. We can even point you to community resources to hold you over while you wait on your case.
We want to see you get another chance at a more secure life.
Contact Us Today! »Help for Every Step of Getting Disability Benefits
Are you trying to figure out if you should even try getting disability benefits? Do you need to put in an application? Have you already applied, but been turned down? Your Alabama Social Security Disability lawyer can step in at any point and help you.
How Does Social Security Disability Work? Get Answers.
Social Security Disability is a huge, complicated program that often doesn’t seem like it cares much about you and your needs. Can’t get answers to your questions? Your disability attorney from The Clarkson Firm is the one who truly cares and guides you. Talk to us.
Common Questions About SSD »
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