Greetings, I am writing this for a few reasons. 1. To see if any of you have had similar SSA nightmares. 2. To enlighten others as to potential nightmares of dealing with the SSA in getting SSDI.
Yes you are reading this correctly, I was found favorable to receive SSDI (not SSD or SSI). I do not completely understand it myself, and have had spoken to several others who only get SSD or SSI and a very few who get SSDI.
My nightmare/daymare begin at the end of August 2007, when my team of physicians refused to allow me to return to my career. I am a college graduate and I had a wonderful career (not a job). I worked since I was 14 years old and built up a lot of credits for the SSA.
When my team of doctors told me to apply for disability, I went straight off to one of my attorneys that I kept on retainer. I chose the better one for handling a disability claim. I explained the situation to him, he asked me a few questions and then had me sign a few papers, then out the door I went. He handled everything, including the intial application. And like most it was denied on the first try. And the second also. He appealed and we jumped to the next phase of a hearing with an ALJ (Administrative Law Judge).
He filed for my disability in October 2007, we went in front of the ALJ in July of 2009. Unfortunetly, we did not know it at the time, but the ALJ we went in front of was involved in a L****** County Judge Scandle. The Judge denied me. The attorney then appealed it for a 4th time, which put the case at the Virginia Appeals Council level, this level is considered Round 4. In April of 2010 the Appeals Council denied my claim. At this time my attorney was forced to resign due to the fact that he could not pursue it at a higher level. He stated it was due to several factors: 1. I had moved to a different state. 2. I was a College Graduate. 3. I had worked in a career for a very long time and made a considerable amount of money. 4. He stated that I would need to find a "Federal Attorney" to handle my case, but he could not further explain why. So, he sent me a "Letter of Quit".
At this point I was like WTF. And I was also frustrated and really tired of the battle.
So I called my new local state Bar Association in hopes that they could help me. They gave me another telephone number to contact someone in the "Federal Bar Association".....I am still like WTF.....
After several attempts of talking on the telephone to several Federal Attorneys, I finally found one who would meet with me.
I met with my new Federal Attorney (FA) and after he reviewed my case, he said he would take me on as a client but I had to pay him $3000 up front to cover the initial court filing fees and accompaning paperwork. OK cool I thought, lets go for it. Well my case was turned down 3 more times, which bumped me up to Round 8. My FA went to battle for me and finally got me a 2nd hearing in front of another ALJ. This was another long tedious process. Before I was permitted to go infront of the next ALJ, a representative of the Federal Court met with me in my FA's office. I first had to sign and have notorized a document stating that I was not worth more than $2 Million Dollars (Yes, you read that right). Again WTF!?
Then it took about 4 or 5 attempts to get an ALJ to agree to see me, what a nightmare that was, most would not even consider taking me on as a case... Again WTF?!
Finally I got a hearing. The Date was set for early December 2012. My FA and I went to the hearing, he toted in a steamer trunk on wheels full of paperwork. He told me how to dress and how to act (what a game). The ALJ and the ALJ's council members grilled my FA and I to no end. Finally the ALJ asked me to leave the room so they could confer with my FA. About 20 minutes later my FA came out and called me into a private office. He then explained to me that the Federal Govt wanted to cut me a deal. The deal was that I would have to forfeit almost half of my back pay, however they would give me medicare as soon as my monthly checks started and I would also have to be re-evaluated again in 12 months. If I did not agree, then my case would be denied again and it could take another 3 to 7 years to get another court hearing.
I agreed to the terms and signed their paperwork. My attorney went back in with the ALJ and about 15 minutes went by and he came out and said I won my case. I was then informed I would be receiving a letter in the mail stating such within 30 days.
Two weeks later I got the approval letter.
However, it is now the end of March of 2013 (3 months later) and I still have not received any other paperwork, letters, or any monies from the SSA.
I made a trip to my local SSA office and they said they had no information on my case file except a copy of the letter saying it was Approved-Fully Favorable.
I then contacted the main office of the SSA, who informed me also the same thing. However after sweet talking the agent on the line, I was informed that my case was sitting on someone's desk in the Payment Center (PC) and it takes awhile for them to process it, then it would have to be sent to my local SSA office and they would have to process it before any monies could be released.
As of today's date, my FA is aghast that I have not received anything. My FA said they will be trying to contact the PC to see where my paperwork is and what the hold up is. I was informed I should have had everything completed within 60 days after the date of my approval letter, yet I still have nothing.
Good Luck to all the other folks here.