A Major Financial Benefit if You’re Approved for Social Security Disability
The process to win Social Security Disability benefits is notoriously long and winding. It can take the government months to evaluate and decide on your application. If you have to appeal a denial, it could take more than a year.
But when you’ve waited a long time for disability benefits, and you’re finally approved, you can get back pay to cover some of the time you had to wait.
Back pay comes in a lump sum that can be a huge relief, helping you catch up with bills and steady yourself financially.
With Social Security Disability back benefits, you can get paid all at once for the time between the moment Social Security deems that you first qualified for benefits and the day your claim was finally approved.
How much you receive heavily depends on a couple of major factors: which disability program you applied to and the date that Social Security decides your disability began.
Social Security runs two disability programs:
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is for people with a recent work history whose health won’t let them perform substantial work anymore.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is for people who have no work record, haven’t worked in a long time or have worked very little, and who don’t have many other resources to rely on.
In some cases, you can apply for both and qualify for both, but Social Security coordinates the two, usually reducing your SSI payment by what you receive from SSDI.
You’ll probably have a lot of questions when considering Social Security Disability benefits. A skilled disability attorney can answer them and shoulder a lot of the heavy lifting.
At Nash Disability Law, we are consistently one of the top Illinois disability law firms in terms of the volume of benefits we win for our clients, according to Social Security reports.
We serve Chicago, Aurora, Naperville, Joliet, Elgin, Waukegan, Gary, any place in Chicagoland, across the state of Illinois, Northwest Indiana and the whole country.
It costs you nothing in attorney fees until you’re awarded benefits.
WE’VE HELPED MORE PEOPLE IN THE CHICAGO AREA WIN BENEFITS THAN ANY OTHER LAW FIRM.
SSDI Back Pay: How Many Months of Back Pay Could I Receive?
SSDI is the larger of the two Social Security Disability programs. If you were working, it’s the system you paid into with every paycheck. It’s a form of financial insurance against your health taking a serious turn for the worse.
For determining back pay, the date your disability started is critical. When you apply for SSDI, you choose the day you believe you had to stop working because of your health condition.
This is known as your “alleged onset date,” or AOD.
You have to be careful here. Choose a date that’s too early without adequate proof, and Social Security may fight you on that. Choose a date that’s too late, and you may leave a substantial amount of back pay on the table.
The best advice is to pick a day that is supported by your medical records. These can be doctor’s reports, test results or other evidence that shows your condition has worsened to the point that working is impossible.
The claims adjudicator or administrative law judge who decides your case will also decide what is called your “established onset date,” or EOD.
This could be the same as your AOD, or Social Security may find that your disability began at a later date. Your EOD is the date that dictates your back pay.
Benefits under SSDI begin a full five months after your EOD. You won’t get paid for that period. But you will receive back pay for the time between the end of those five months and the moment your application is approved.
In short, your SSDI back pay amount will be your monthly check multiplied by the number of months between your EOD and Social Security’s approval of your claim, minus the five-month waiting period.
Another potential wrinkle is that past-due benefits can also extend back 12 months before the date you applied for SSDI benefits. The one-year extension applies only to SSDI, not SSI.
This makes it critical to file your SSDI application as soon as possible and not lose out on any of what you could be owed.
Start with a FREE disability claim consultation.
How Much Can I Receive in Social Security Disability Back Benefits?
How much SSDI back pay you’ll receive depends on the amount of your monthly payments and how long it took for Social Security to decide on your case.
With the average SSDI monthly payment higher than $1,500 in recent years, and wait times extending beyond a year, disability back benefits can easily total a significant amount.
Long-time workers with high earnings typically receive larger SSDI checks.
Once you’re approved for benefits, it typically takes Social Security about one to two months to issue your lump sum past-due benefits, although there are exceptions.
If your back pay is substantial or your payment calculation is complicated, additional processing may be required, which can extend the time it takes to receive your benefits.
It doesn’t look like the long delays in winning disability benefits, leading to large back payments, will improve anytime soon.
Social Security recently went through the most drastic workforce reductions in decades, leaving field offices and phone lines woefully understaffed.
In Chicago, across Illinois and Indiana, and around the country, some offices can close temporarily, which doesn’t help efficient service, either.
Having an experienced Social Security Disability lawyer can help you cope with this difficult system and seek the fullest benefits you are entitled to receive.
SSI Back Pay: What Is the Wait Time and Amount to Expect?
SSI back pay runs on a slightly different timeline from SSDI. It begins to accumulate the month after you apply for benefits, assuming Social Security agrees your disability began at the time you filed your application
There is no five-month waiting period for SSI like there is for SSDI.
But be aware: SSI will not retroactively pay for any time between the onset of your disability and the date you applied for benefits, like SSDI can. So again, the best thing to do is apply as soon as you believe you’re eligible.
With SSI, past-due benefits are simply your monthly payment multiplied by the number of months you had to wait between applying and being approved.
Back pay usually takes longer to come in under SSI than SSDI because of some extra steps Social Security takes to determine that you financially qualify for SSI.
SSI is a needs-based program, and Social Security will require you to undergo what’s called a “Pre-Effectuation Review Conference,” or PERC. This is a mandatory financial interview after you have been medically approved for benefits.
Social Security uses a PERC to understand what resources and assets you have access to before setting your benefit amount.
Such reviews mean SSI back pay can take 60 to 90 days to arrive after approval.
While SSI back pay can come in one lump sum, there is often a catch if you’re owed a substantial amount.
Should your back pay be more than three times the SSI maximum allowed amount, Social Security generally will deliver your back pay in two or three installments, spaced six months apart.
Back pay also doesn’t count toward SSI’s resource limit for nine months after you receive it, which gives you time to spend it on needs without losing eligibility.
SSI generally pays less than SSDI because it’s not based on what you paid into Social Security.
Then other income you receive is subtracted from your SSI amount, and having resources above Social Security’s limit can make you ineligible.
The one thing you can count on from Social Security, whether it’s applying, appealing a denial or figuring out your back pay, is that it’s going to be complicated.
Give yourself a break and find some help to get you through the process.
The disability attorneys at Nash Disability Law have spent more than 40 years helping hardworking people in Chicago, Illinois and Indiana get the benefits they need to stabilize their lives and focus on their health.
