'BACK-PAY," HOW MUCH CAN YOU GET?
- The Forsythe Firm
- Sep 5, 2020
- 2 min read
Past due benefits or "back pay" in disability claims happens from two situations:
You filed a claim several months after you became disabled and "back date" the claim.
You get paid for each month it takes Social Security to make a decision.
You are allowed to collect a maximum of 12 months of disability benefits before you file a claim with Social Security. For examle, if you actually became disabled in April 2019 but didn't file your claim until April 2020, those 12 months can be covered. There's 12 months of potential back pay.
Let's say you get denied once or twice along the way, hire an attorney and go through the appeals process. Let's say this takes 14 months but you finally get a favorable decision (finding that you became disabled in April 2019). There's 14 more months of "back pay," for a total of 26 months.
Actually, you won't get paid for 26 months in this example. You would get paid for 21 months. There is a 5-month "waiting period," meaning that Social Security does not pay the first 5 months of a disability under Title II or SSDI. They will deduct 5 months form your back pay. So, 26 months minus 5 equals 21 months of pay.
In SSDI cases, back pay is paid in one lump sum settlement. It isn't uncommon for a claimant to get $20,000 or $30,000 in back pay. I had a client in the past who received more than $90,000 in back pay, however, that was an unusual case. It depends on the date you became disabled and the date you filed your claim.
When should you file your disability claim? The answer, as soon as you find that you have a severe condition that will last for at least 12 straight months and prevent you from working. The 12 months is called a "Duration Requirement," meaning that Social Security will not pay for an impairment that is not expected to last at least 12 straight months. (You do not have to wait 12 months to file). Waiting to file a claim can have serious, negative consequences. So, file as soon as you believe you meet the requirement of a 12 month disability.
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