5-Month Waiting Period for an SSDI Claim

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs allow people with disabilities to seek assistance. The SSDI program pays benefits to you and your family members if you are disabled and insured. If you are disabled according to Social Security rules and regulations and have worked recently and long enough and paid social security taxes on earnings, you would qualify for benefits. On the other hand, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program benefits children and adults with disabilities who are disabled according to Social Security rules and regulations and have limited resources and income. The medical requirements for these programs are the same.

Specifically, for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), the benefits are subject to a waiting period of five months. Unfortunately, this means that Social Security will not pay you for the first five months of being disabled.

Timeline for the Disability Claims Process

The five-month period of waiting starts on the claimant’s established onset date (EOD) of disability. On the 6th full month following this date, the claimant is entitled to Social Security Benefits. However, the date of entitlement is not allowed to be more than 12 months prior to the application date.

However, what if you have a protective filing date?  A protective filing date is the date in which you contacted SSA to schedule an appointment to apply for disability benefits or the date in which you started your online application.  SSA will consider your protective filing date as your application date. In short, you can be paid SSDI for 12 months before your protective filing date but only if Social Security finds that you were disabled in those past months.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) does not have a 5-month waiting period, but benefits can only be paid from the date of application as long as SSA determines that you were disabled at that time.

Consult an SSDI Lawyer on the Claim Waiting Period

The claimant will likely not have to wait five months after a decision is made to receive benefits, since the waiting period is used up while waiting for a disability decision. If you or a loved one is struggling with an SSDI or SSI claim, reaching out to a skilled professional attorney can significantly improve your chances of success. Our team at Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law is here to help you obtain the benefits you deserve. Contact us today for more information and guidance.