For Benjamin, the Social Security process was both confusing and time consuming. It meant filling out paperwork with questions that he didn’t know how to answer. The worst part was that he did not know how social security processes his case much less how long they typically take at each step. Benjamin heard that a social security case can take up to two years. He filed a new claim and waited. He waited for 18 months without hearing a word from the Social Security Administration.
SSA Made A Mistake
Little did he know, the SSA thought they sent him a form requesting additional information (but they never actually did send this report). After Benjamin failed to respond to the request that was never actually made, the SSA dismissed his case for failure to respond. Benjamin was heartbroken to hear that he had to start over from scratch.
Something very similar to this actually happened to one of my clients. It was horrible. There are multiple stages in a social security case. Within each stage, there are several steps that must take place before a Social Security case can be advanced to another stage.
Why Having a Lawyer Can Help
Hiring an attorney that specializes in Social Security Disability can dramatically help make sure that your case is being processed correctly. A social Security Disability attorney should be able to understand what the Social Security Administration does, and what is needed at every micro step of the case. At our office, we typically check on every case every two weeks to see how the case is progressing. If the case remains unprocessed for an abnormal amount of time, then we undergo an investigation to correct the problem.
Consult an Experienced Law Firm
The challenge for people like Benjamin is that he did not know what happens behind that Social Security curtain. Knowing every micro step in the process and the normal amount of processing for each step can be extremely tricky. If you ever suspect that your case is being mishandled, feel free to contact our office for a free investigation and we will do all we can to identify and remedy the problem for you.