Social Security Disability Denied: Request for Reconsideration

First Step to Appealing Denied Benefits

When you are disabled and apply for Social Security benefits, it may be discouraging to think you also need to learn about Social Security disability appeals, but this is an important part of the process. The statistical likelihood that you will be involved in at least one level of appeal is high.

You will receive a decision notice in the mail from Social Security after they have reviewed your application. It will take at least 3 to 5 months in most cases for your claim to be reviewed and the notice to be mailed to you. The decision notice will either be an award letter or a denial letter. About 60 percent of the people who apply for disability benefits will receive a denial letter after the initial review.

Appealing a Denial

“Now what?” is probably your first thought after reading your Denial Letter and realizing your Social Security disability is denied. Consider these points:

• The decision notice explains the reasons for the denial and gives you instructions on how to appeal the decision.
• There are several levels of appeal you can go through in order to obtain benefits. The first level after an initial denial is called reconsideration.
• Unless your condition has improved markedly since you applied for benefits, or you think it is likely you will be able to return to work in a few months, you should strongly consider filing an appeal for a reconsideration.

Reconsideration

Reconsideration is the first level of appeal after you disability claim has been denied. It is a complete review of your claim, performed by a new examiner who was not involved in the first decision.

You have the opportunity to present new, updated evidence of your medical condition prior to the Reconsideration review.

If you are not already represented by an attorney who is helping you with your disability claim, you should strongly consider talking to and retaining an attorney to help you at this juncture.

Requesting a Reconsideration Appeal

The decision notice you receive in the mail explains the reason for the denial and instructs you how to file an appeal. You have several choices available to you:

• File the request for a Reconsideration electronically on the Social Security website.
• Download the forms from the website, complete them and mail them to your closest Social Security office, or bring them in person. When you download forms from the Social Security website, they are PDF files. If you do not already have the PDF file reader from Adobe, follow the link on the website where you can download and install the free PDF file reader before downloading Social Security forms.
• Call Social Security and tell them you wish to appeal the denial of your disability benefits, but you don't want to complete the online forms.
• Go to the Social Security office to get the forms you will need and then either mail them in after completion or bring them back.
• Hire an attorney to help you file the reconsideration request.

This is a fresh opportunity to present new information about your disability to the next Social Security examiner who will review your file. Make sure you read and understand the reasons for the denial so you can ensure you fill in any gaps that were missing in your initial application and provide the missing evidence of the severity of your disability. If you are not sure how to proceed, ask for help.

Forms for Social Security Disability Appeals

If you are requesting a reconsideration of an initial denial, you will need these three forms:

• Form SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration
• Form SSA-3441, Appeal Disability Report
• Form SSA-827, Authorization to Disclose Information to Social Security

You should submit all three forms to Social Security at the same time for fastest and most accurate processing. Make sure they are returned to the correct Social Security office. If you are not positive where to mail the forms, ask someone to help you. Your file will be reviewed by an examiner who did not review your case the first time, and you will receive a notice in the mail of the decision.

There are other reasons why you may request a reconsideration. You may already be receiving disability benefits and get a notice telling you that Social Security no longer considers you to be disabled, so they are terminating your benefits. Or you might get a notice informing you that you have been overpaid, and you have to refund the overpayment to Social Security.

If either one of these happen to you, you must file different forms:

• If you are requesting a reconsideration because Social Security has decided to terminate your benefits, you will need to file Form SSA-789, Request for Reconsideration--Disability Cessation.
• If you get a notice of overpayment, you will need to file a Form SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Recovery of an Overpayment.

Working with an Attorney

The sooner an attorney can get involved in your case, the more he or she will learn about you and your medical condition and the easier it is to help you create the most compelling appeal possible. You can get some assistance from staffers at Social Security, but always remember they can only give you the same information they give everyone else, and they do not always represent your best interests like an attorney will.

Next Steps

10. Administrative Appeals Hearing
11. Collecting Social Security Benefits
12. Keeping Benefits: Continuing Reviews

Trying to Get Disability Benefits?