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Why is it so important that Social Security be informed of your new address and phone number? There are many reasons why you should notify Social Security of any address or phone number changes for yourself or your third party contact (the person you listed on your disability application as someone who is familiar with your disabling conditions) as soon as possible. Once a Social Security claims representative (the "CR" is the person at the social security office who takes your claim) completes your disability interview, your disability claim is sent to a state disability agency for a medical determination where it is assigned to a disability examiner. The examiner develops your disability claim by acquiring your medical source information and, typically, this begins by sending medical record requests to all the various doctors and hospitals that were listed on the disability application. However, the disability examiner may also, at some point, need to contact you, or your third party contact, for one of a number of different reasons. It may be necessary to obtain additional information about your disabling condition, such as your medical treatment sources. Or, the examiner may determine that your disability claim needs a consultative examination (an examination performed by a private practice physician who is paid by Social Security to evaluate claimants) in order to make a medical determination. Whatever the reason, if the disability examiner is unable to contact you, your claim may be denied as A) “whereabouts unknown”, B) “failure to attend a consultative examination” or even C) a “failure to cooperate’. Obviously, the ability of social security to contact a claimant during the processing of a claim is very important. But it can be important even after the decision on a disability claim has been made. How can a current address and phone number be important once a medical determination has been made on your Social Security disability claim? Social Security notifies all individuals of their disability decision via mail. If your disability claim is denied, you will receive a denial notice at the address you provided to Social Security at the time of your disability interview. Unless, that is, you have notified Social Security of a new current address while your medical decision was being made...or, you have moved and failed to notify social security regarding your new contact information. Why is it so important to receive a denial notice? Social Security has an appeal process that enables you to appeal your disability denial. However, you must file your appeal within an time-limited appeal period that ends sixty-five days from the date of the denial letter. If you do not file your appeal timely, you may have to begin the disability process all over again from scratch. This means not being given the option to file an appeal and eventually get your case heard by an administrative law judge at a hearing (where the chances of winning are typically higher), but, rather, having to file a new disability application (on which you are likely to be denied again for the same reasons as the first application). Obviously, if you have not given Social Security your new mailing address, you may not receive your notice of denial and, therefore, may not even know your disability claim has been denied. How can you file your appeal within the timeframe alloted by the social security administration if you don't even know that your claim has been denied? Short answer: You can't. Your address and phone number are also important, however, if you are awarded Social Security disability or SSI disability benefits. When you are approved for disability benefits, Security sends the award letter---and your checks if you don't have direct deposit at a bank---to the address you provided during your disability interview. If you move and don't provide the social security office with new contact information, you may not receive your award letter or your benefit checks timely. In conclusion, when you file a disability claim with Social Security, be sure to report all address and phone number changes to Social Security promptly. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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