You may have been hurt in an accident or diagnosed with a terminal illness. It’s not easy to deal with the reality of these situations and it’s even more difficult when they begin to take a toll on your everyday life. Whether you’ve been out of work for a while, or just a short period of time, you probably have started to consider filing a North Carolina Social Security Disability Claim. While this process may take a while, there’s never a better day than today to get started.
Do I Qualify?
In order to qualify for disability benefits, you will have to meet the Social Security Administration’s definition of a “disability”. Their definition, in short, states that you should not be able to engage in substantial gainful work because of a medically determinable condition that lasted (or is expected to last) 12 consecutive months or result in death. In order to prove your case, you will need a complete medical file, and in many cases the support of your treating doctor.
What Do I Do?
The first step would be to decide if you want to battle this fight on your own or hire a lawyer. While you may think that hiring a lawyer will be expensive, you may be surprised to see that most attorneys only charge a fee if they win your case. Your next step is to file a claim with Social Security. If you have a lawyer, they can help you prepare and even help file the application for you. You will want to give complete, comprehensive, detailed, and truthful statements when completing the application. You will then wait for an initial decision. If the claim is denied (which most are), an attorney can help you by filing appeals and representing you at the hearing level, if necessary.
What Can I Expect?
In the state of North Carolina, Social Security Disability cases can take a while. You can expect the process to last about one to two years. It can take three to six months for Social Security to make an initial decision and then two to three months for a reconsideration decision. The next step is to file for a hearing. It’s normal to wait at least a year to a year and a half to get a hearing scheduled. An attorney can help you get through this long process.
