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How to Move Forward After a Denial of Your Social Security Disability Application?

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If you’ve become injured or seriously ill and are unable to work, you may be wondering how you’re going to meet your daily expenses without your regular income. If you’ve applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and been rejected, you’re in good company. The Social Security Administration has an extremely high denial rate among applicants for benefits, and estimates that only 24% of all first-time applicants for SSDI are approved based on their initial application. However, an additional 18% of those applicants will go on to receive some form of benefit from the Social Security Administration.

While you are not required to hire an attorney to handle your SSDI application, doing so does come with many advantages, not least of which is an increased chance that your application will be approved in the first round. The Social Security Administration reports that a large share of first-time applications are rejected for technical reasons, rather than a finding that the applicant is not truly disabled. Once those reviewing your application find a technical deficiency with the application, they will reject the application without continuing to review whether or not the applicant meets the criteria to be considered disabled.

After a denial, many applicants conclude that it would be better to complete a brand-new application, rather than to request a reconsideration of their existing application. However, this is not always in your best interests, and it could end up delaying your eventual approval. Typically, the process from application to approval takes about a year. While only about 8% of applicants are approved at the reconsideration stage, at the administrative hearing stage, the approval rate jumps to 66%. One theory as to why the approval rate jumps so dramatically at this stage is because many applicants wait until they will be required to go before an administrative law judge to hire an attorney. Thus, hiring a lawyer to handle your application could end up saving you time and money.

If you’ve been injured or become sick and need assistance submitting an application for SSDI benefits in and around Jackson, Mississippi, contact the seasoned and compassionate Ridgeland disability law attorneys at the Hancock Law Firm for a consultation, at (601) 853-2223.

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