Now what?? I need to get paid!

[Ms.Rhi]

After almost three years of fighting I finally got a favorable decision! Now im wondering, how long until I receive payment? The judge amended the start date by a couple months..
No biggie. But I need the money asap. Does anyone have insight on how long it takes?

[MSW1963]

I was approved within 6mos of my initial application. I was notified by and in contact with my local SS office.

If you have not already been to your local SSA office, I recommend going in person, explain face to face the emergency nature of your financial hardship.

Because of my financial hardship and that I had a young child I was sole supporter of, the local office issued an emergency distribution for my child's back pay benefits.

There was some techenicality for not releasing my back pay versus my child's, maybe withholding my attorney's payment from my SS benefits, and/or because there was a young child in the home with no other means of support. I don't remember the details, but the local SSA office administrators were extremely kind to me and worked their magic just in time for us.

The local office issued a check for about $6k for my child's back pay benefits as my dependent within a day of me notifying the local SSA office of our emergency financial circumstances. I had to wait just a bit longer for distribution of my back pay benefits via direct deposit, less attorney fees.

Hope this helps and take care.

[Rich Feingold]

Glad to hear that worked out so well for you, MSW1963.

Ms.Rhi. I would estimate that you would receive benefits within 60 days, however, sometimes there are hang-ups in cases, e.g., the has been a concurrent SSDI and SSI claim filed and the local SSA office did not make the SSI inputs into the system so the SSDI payments can be released. Sometimes, the past due benefits are large and several sign-offs are necessary before the past due benefits are released.

Sometimes there are Worker's Compensation offsets that need to be computed, which can delay things. Sometimes a representative payee is required and that may slow down the past due payment to claimants, too.

I hope that you receive your past due benefits and Notice of Award, explaining those benefits, in a timely fashion.

Rich