Speaking of Payments...

We are usually able to anticipate the first question from our clients following a fully-favorable decision: When will I begin to receive my payments?

It’s quite possibly one of the most important questions we get to answer; after all, this is what we’ve been fighting for since the Initial Application was filed. Understanding the payment process is quite easy—once you get past the slightly confusing part, that is.

For an individual who has applied for Social Security Disability benefits, as many of you may know, it’s required to identify the onset date of disability. If benefits are granted, an individual  is declared disabled as of the date they originally alleged their disability began (unless otherwise noted in the decision). More often than not, the alleged onset date is over a year past the current date. Not only will the individual begin to receive monthly payments based on their past earnings record, but they may also receive back payments for the months they were disable and not receiving payments. But, there’s a little bit of a catch.

Let’s say, for instance, Mr. K. applied for Social Security Disability benefits, alleging an onset date of January 1, 2010. If Mr. K’s benefits were to be granted, he would be entitled to back payments to the aforementioned date. However, the Social Security Administration cannot begin payments for 5 months after the established onset. As such, Mr. K. would not begin receiving his back payments until the 6^th full month after the disability began.

There are exceptions to this rule, however. The 5-month waiting period for Social Security Disability benefits does not apply to those applying as children of workers. Additionally, the regulations for receiving payments for a Supplemental Security Income claim are slightly different. Rather than a 5-month wait, individuals may begin receiving payments as early as 1 month after their application date or 1 month after they became eligible.