For most disability claimants (applicants), it can take many months or even years of waiting to finally be approved for Social Security disability. By the time many applicants finally receive their decision granting them benefits, they're often in serious debt.
That's why one of the first questions SSDI and SSI recipients often have after they've been approved is when they'll receive their retroactive pay, sometimes called backpay. (Learn the difference between SSDI and SSI.)
Usually, a claimant will receive their SSDI backpay within 60 days of being approved. But it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes the backpay comes very quickly. In fact, backpay is sometimes deposited to a bank account before an award notice is even sent. Other times, a claimant's back pay can seemingly fall into an abyss and months will pass before it's received.
Much of this inconsistency is due to the fact that SSDI backpay isn't processed at the Social Security office where claimants apply. Social Security's payment processing centers handle back payments for SSDI, and these centers are often located in other states and deal with mountains of processing work.
Past due benefits for SSI are processed at the local Social Security office. But SSI payments can get held up while Social Security requests your updated income and asset information to determine whether you're still eligible for the program.
In a survey we recently took of our SSI recipients, the average time it took from the time of the decision to the first check was just over two months, though most individuals received their checks within seven weeks.
Updated January 27, 2022
Need a lawyer? Start here.