Is It Okay to Contact Your Disability Claim Examiner?

[suzyguqt]

Is it okay to contact the claim examiner handling your case to see where things are at with your claim? Or is it expected you wait it out until SS contacts you whether or not your SSDI claim was rejected or approved?

Thanks for the input.
Sue

[anita.eicher.pack]

I definitely called to check on things. Depending at what point we were at in the process, at times I called weekly. You have the right to know what is happening and ensure things are moving along.

[suzyguqt]

More Waiting To Do..How does one get through it.

I took your advice and contacted my disability examiner this morning. She said my case had been decided BUT that it was marked as possibly being pulled for quality review so she could not tell me result. I looked this up on the internet and it said she could be fired if she told me anything so I understand that.

However, now I have more waiting to do. She did say I could receive a letter in the mail soon and if I hadn't heard anything in one week to call her back again and she would know if it was in quality review or not. If not, then she could tell me the result.

As the song says, the waiting is the hardest part (although an answer of denied will make THAT the hardest part). I'm not a patient person by nature and tend to stress and worry things (am in fact in an anxiety "class" my neuro and the neuropsych who did my cog eval suggested would be good for me).

Well, the mail just came so I am going to begin the "run for the mailbox" process.

Sue

[bwmorris]

Sue, I just wanted to second Anita's recommendation to call, even if I'm a little late.

A few years ago, my spouse applied for SSI for non-MS disabilities (not enough work credits for SSDI). We knew the determination could take a year, and they told us they'd contact us. We got a little antsy six or seven months in, so I gave them a call just to casually check on things.

I was told that the claim had been denied, and that the appeal window had closed. If she wanted benefits, she would have to start the application process again.

They were totally unsympathetic that we never received a denial letter. We were so devastated by the difficulty of the process and by being thwarted that we scraped by, with me taking out school loans to cover expenses that my part-time job couldn't. Those loans certainly aren't being paid…

The good news is that, after a lot of stuff between now and then, she is now receiving SSI checks. Well, bad that she's dealing with permanent disabilities, but good that we have almost enough to cover our basic bills, rather than zero income.

At least now my (non-rich) parents aren't paying for everything. It's hard to get over your parents supporting both you and your spouse of 11 years!

So the main point is, to you and everyone reading, CALL, CALL, CALL!!! They're nowhere near as invested in your case as you are, and people and computers make mistakes.

Sue, I hope you got some good news in the mail.

[Brandyml]

Quality review

Yes, glad you called. Quality review process can take a week to 3-4 weeks could even be longer. At a review the person reviewing it can return the case for more work to be done on it or they can accept the decision and send it to the SSA office. If you call back ask, what date was it sent to QA? And How much longer does the analyst expect it to be there. That will give you some idea of how long to wait to call back.

If the case is returned for more work to be done the analyst will most likely need to request additional evidence. You can also call and let the analyst know of any recent appointments you have had and/or testing that was done and where. This will help the analyst request additional records if necessary.