What can you do if you are disabled and yet are still denied disability services? To be eligible, you must be disabled, legally blind, or over the age of 65. Although you are not required to hire a lawyer if you plan to apply for Social Security disability benefits, you are allowed to have one. It will cost you money to hire an attorney, so you must consider the benefits of legal representation as compared to making a claim on your own before you decide if you really need a lawyer.
Find yourself a good Supplemental Security Income (SSI) attorney. But how can you find an SSI lawyer after being denied disability? If you did not hire a lawyer and were denied an SSI claim, hiring a Social Security lawyer may give you the chance to appeal successfully. And you should know that it is very common for a first submission to disability to be rejected, and perhaps even a second as well, due to a high rate of perfectly healthy, but crafty, people trying to apply for disability for themselves. So naturally the claim center is skeptical of new applicants.
Very few claims are approved on first application, but you can increase those chances by submitting up-to-date medical records and a Residual Function Capacity Form (RFC) from your doctor. If you are turned down, appeal the decision. If you are turned down on appeal, ask for an Administrative Hearing, which will be a face-to-face hearing with a Administrative Law Judge
Next, you should look for a very experienced SSI attorney who will offer you free services unless he wins your case. There are many attorneys out there who will indeed offer such a service, especially with disability claims. Pick one who listens to your case and is clearly on your side. And a disability representative, or attorney, is limited to collecting 25% of the back-pay owed to you, with a limit of $5300, so you won’t go broke hiring a good one. When you win, he will deduct his fees from the disability check you finally receive. When you get approved you will receive a large check, dating back from when you first filed your claim for disability. Ask your lawyer in the beginning what his fee or percentage will be. You don’t want to be unpleasantly surprised.
