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THIS ONE THING DELAYS NEW SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CLAIMS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE

When your attorney files a new Social Security disability claim for you, he/she cannot sign your name.  So, Social Security will mail you a copy of the application (called an Application Summary) for you to review and sign.  This entire document must be returned promptly.  If it isn't, your claim will be put on an indefinite hold until the document comes in.

Social Security will not call or send you a reminder that the form has not been received.  Your claim just sits inactive as the weeks and months roll by. You may think everything is normal.  After about 6 months Social Security will dismiss your claim and purge it from their system--all because you did not return the Application Summary with your signature. 

 Failure to sign and return forms causes more delay than anything else.

Here's another problem I have encountered:  The claimant signs the signature page (last page) of the application and sends JUST THAT ONE PAGE back.  That is not sufficient and does not take your application off inactive status.

THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT (usually 4 or 5 pages) MUST BE RETURNED.  There is only one signature required; however, every page of the document must be returned.

Here's the biggest problem:  Social Security never notifies you (or your attorney / representative) that the document has not been returned.  They mail it to you once and expect you to sign and return the entire document.  If you don't, you will not be contacted and after 6 months your claim is basically thrown away.

It is extremely important to open any Social Security mail immediately and explore what is being asked of you.  If there are forms enclosed with the mail, you must respond to them right away.  If forms require your signature, you should sign and date them and return to Social Security in the envelope provided.  Return the ENTIRE form, not just the signature page.

Some of the forms you get may be confusing.  But you can't ignore them. If you don't understand the forms, call your lawyer / representative for help.  If you are not represented, call your local Social Security office for help.

Ignoring one signature on a Social Security form can delay your application for months. Or, it may result in your application being thrown away, requiring you to start over--with more months of wasted time.

In my experience, Social Security has one way of doing things:  their way.  They are much too busy to send reminders.  They give you one opportunity to do things and you likely won't get a second chance. 

  

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