Filing a Disability Appeal in Tampa: What You Need to Know

Whether you’re filing for your Social Security Disability in Tampa for the first time, or you are on one of your appeal attempts, you are most likely aware that the process of getting SSDI or SSI can be a backbreaking, stressful process. It’s fraught with anxiety and frustration, and frequently, you can be denied your first time around, forcing you to file an appeal.

Do not get discouraged; this isn’t unusual. It’s always to your advantage, especially within the context of the appeals process, to seek an experienced Social Security advocate to work on your case. We’ve brought this up before here at our blog because the benefits to you are substantial. To recap:

• An  experienced advocate knows the Social Security Administration inside and out. Advocates understand SSA rules and what they’re looking for to award a claimant disability. More importantly perhaps, they know what they’re looking for to deny a claimant his or her SSDI or SSI… and can counter those with the facts of your case.
• An experienced Tampa Social Security advocate would substantially decrease your stress and anxiety. Too often, we see cases where people try to fight alone. Their conditions worsens throughout the process.  Don’t let this happen to you. Having an advocate fight for you is good for your health.
• A Tampa Social Security advocate understands the nuances of the appeals process… and can work those to your advantage, increasing the likelihood that you will be rewarded your SSDI benefits.

Filing Your Social Security Disability Appeal in Tampa

If you’re at the point in your case where you’re forced to file an appeal, there are a few things you should know regardless of whether you are doing it on your own or have hired a Tampa Social Security advocate here at Disability Experts of Florida.

Appeals are available to claimants after every level of the process. That means you can have a total of four appeals: Reconsideration, Hearing, Appeals Council and District Court.

1. The initial appeal available to a Tampa Social Security disability claimant is the reconsideration. A reconsideration appeal can be requested after the denial of your initial claim (within 60 days from the date of the denial).
2. The second appeal available to a disability claimant is the hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). You can request an “ALJ hearing” after the denial of your reconsideration (again, within 60 days from the date of the recon’s denial).
3. The third appeal at your disposal is a review by the Appeals Council of an ALJ’s decision. At the appeals council, the judge’s decision will be reviewed for errors that are either technical in nature (for example, applying the wrong “age rules” to a claimant and denying their claim on that basis) or more substantial (such as failing to consider medical evidence that was available at the time of the hearing). You might be asking yourself, “Is it a good idea at this point to hire an advocate?” The answer is yes! As you can see here, understanding the “technical” end of the process throughout is always to your advantage. Call Disability Experts of Florida today for a free case review and consultation.
4. The fourth and final appeal available to a Tampa Social Security disability claimant is a suit filed in Federal District Court. This option can be utilized when the appeals council has denied a claimant’s case.

Call us today! We don’t get paid unless you get paid and, by calling us, you will increase your chances that you do get awarded benefits.