5 POSSIBLE STEPS IN SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

Depending on how difficult your claim is, you may have to undergo the following steps to win Social Security disability benefits. Of course, you might be approved at any stage, saving the need for a more prolonged legal battle.

Here are all the possible stages in a Social Security claim:

__Original application - approval rate is around 25 percent

__Reconsideration - where the approval rate is less than 10 percent

__Hearing - where the average approval rate is just over 50 percent

__Appeals Council - Award rate is only about 3 percent; some case remanded

__Federal Court - Direct award rate is between 2 and 3 percent, but some cases may be remanded for another hearing.

*A remand is where an appeal judge or court does not approve the application but agrees that there are some important unsettled issues. The case is sent back (remanded) to the administrative law judge for further action, which may include a new hearing. Of course, the application might be denied again at the new hearing.

Based on the above numbers, your obvious best chance to be awarded benefits occurs at the hearing before a federal administrative law judge (ALJ). Nobody recommends a hearing without legal representation--because the hearing is very "court-like" and the claimant will be asked to prove disability according to the rules and regulations of the Social Security Administration. Almost impossible unless you know the regulations thoroughly. You most also know the type of evidence to submit and which legal arguments to make.

Social Security has made it pretty easy to get good legal help on these claims. The claimant cannot be charged a fee unless.....

1. The case is won, and in addition

2. A back-pay or past due settlement occurs