Social Security Disability, SSI Hearing Tips

I've seen it happen a million times. A claimant waits as long as 2 years to get to a scheduled hearing before an administrative law juge. It's the day they've been waiting for, it's the day that has hung like a sword of damocles over their head for weeks since the hearing appointment letter arrrived. And on the way to the hearing they get lost. Or get mired in an incredible traffic jam.

Don't let this happen to you. True, if you have a valid excuse for not making it to a scheduled disability hearing, the ALJ (administrative law judge) will probably cut you some slack and reschedule your hearing. But your next hearing date will probably be weeks away. And if your finances are already stretched thin and near the breaking point (or past it), you don't want to add any more time to your "participation" in the process.

Here's a tip and one of several simple tips to follow: if you're not exactly sure where the hearing office is located, make a dry run sometime prior to the day of the hearing. That may be cumbersome for some, but, for others, having been to the hearing office at least once before may make the difference between arriving at a disability hearing on time, and having a tremendous headache and a chest full of anxiety because you either got lost or underestimated the traffic ended up getting there too late.



Return to the Social Security Disability SSI Benefits Blog














Other Posts:
Disability Appeal Deadline
How long does it take to get a disability hearing scheduled ?
File for disability
Disability attorneys

---