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At some point after a social security (or ssi) disability
claim has been approved, a claimant receives an Award
letter.
Award letters generally answer most of the benefit payment
questions that disability claimants inevitably have.
In the majority of instances, of course, claimants are
most curious about the following issues:
- The amount they will receive
in monthly benefits.
- The amount they will receive
in past due benefits, or back pay.
Typically, claimants can expect to receive Award Letters within
12 weeks from the date they are approved;
although, in many instances, the wait may be significantly
longer, or shorter.
Unfortunately, as with other aspects of SSA's disability system,
the timing in this area is nearly impossible to gauge.
For example, in a certain percentage of cases, a claimant
may find that benefits have been deposited to a checking account
before an Award Letter has
even been received. In other cases, the wait may
seem inordinately long (often due to backlogs at payment processing
centers).
Note: Claimants
who are represented should certainly inform their disability
attorney or non-attorney representative when their Award Letter
arrives. This serves two purposes:
First, as with most social security correspondence, award
letters are not written in a manner conducive to easy reading;
therefore, a certain amount of "interpretation" may be needed.
Second, it is always good advice
to keep a disability attorney or representative fully informed,
even in the final stages of a case. Following this advice
can sometimes ensure that mistakes made by the social security
administration can be remedied in a timely manner.
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