How Does Social Security Disability Back Pay Work?

Social Security disability back pay is the amount the SSA owes you from your application date until your approval date. This seeks to remedy any losses felt by the disabled victim throughout the application process.

Retroactive pay, on the other hand, covers up to 12 months prior to your claim when disabled, but hadn’t yet filed your paperwork.

It can take months for a Social Security disability case to conclude, notwithstanding any delays or denials along the way. It’s important to retain back pay for your case, so hire the right Social Security disability attorney to start your claim strong.

How Social Security Disability Back Pay Works

If you cannot work due to a disability, your condition likely developed over time. Therefore, if you waited to apply for benefits until after your doctor initially diagnosed your disabling condition, you may qualify for disability back pay.

The amount of your lump-sum disability back pay depends on your highest monthly job income during the past 35 years. The SSA calls this amount your “Average Indexed Monthly Earnings,” or AIME.

Your benefit will be the sum total of the following three amounts:

• 90% of your AIME that falls below $960
• 32% of everything over that $960, but less than $5,785
• 15% of anything beyond that $5,785 as your Primary Insurance Amount

This total amount forms the basis for determining how much SSDI disability back pay you will get.

What Steps Decide Your Disability Back Pay Amount?

A medical examiner reviews your condition to determine your Established Onset Date (EOD). Typically, this is the date you file your claim paperwork with the SSA.

The Department of Disability Services (DDS) examiner in your state calculates your monthly SSDI benefit amount.

Then, they calculate how much retroactive back pay you qualify for. This amount is capped to 12 months after you suffered your disability, plus the time you spent waiting for your application.

Finally, the SSA calculates how much SSDI back pay the SSA owes you. Once they determine that, the agency issues you an award letter in the mail. This letter states your monthly benefit amount and when to expect your first direct-deposit payment.

What is Retroactive Pay?

Retroactive pay covers the time period before your established onset date, which is when a medical examiner first identified your condition.

In most cases, a person’s disability starts long before their SSDI filing date. As a result, there may be a lump-sum retroactive payment available.

Basically, imagine a year’s worth of disability benefits directly deposited into your bank account. That’s your standard SSDI retroactive payment.

To qualify for the full 12 months of retroactive benefits, your disability must begin at least 17 months before the date you file your claim. DDS medical examiners set your EOD.

If you feel your EOD is incorrect, you’ll need to submit medical records that show an earlier onset date.

The most you can qualify for in terms of retroactive payments is 17 months. This includes your disability back pay.

Of course, it’s possible you became disabled much sooner than that before you applied for SSDI. Regardless, you cannot receive additional payments for earlier months.

How Your Alleged Onset Date Affects Disability Back Pay

Since most people can prove their condition started long before they stopped working and applied for benefits, almost all claimants get five months’ back pay in a lump-sum check. This usually happens when people supply the SSA with documents showing their official diagnosis date.

The SSA automatically backdated your payment to the date you apply for benefits. That date is your AOD, or “alleged onset date.”

However, if you can provide documents from healthcare providers that show your disability started before the day you filed your SSDI application, that earlier date becomes your EOD, or “established onset date.”

If you can’t find proof you became disabled before the date you filed your SSDI claim, the SSA automatically converts your claim-filing date to your EOD.

In those cases, if it hasn’t been five months since you applied, you’ll get no SSDI back pay. That’s very unlikely to happen.

Most people spend 1-3 months filling out forms and pulling medical or banking records, IDs, and other information before filing their paperwork with the local SSA office.

Furthermore, most people work part-time or take reduced hours after losing full-time employment due to repeat medical absences. The average wait time between when people lose their jobs to applying for SSDI is 11 months.

The Exception to Disability Back Pay

There is one special case where a person won’t qualify for disability back pay: if you were just diagnosed with ALS.

The reason is they automatically qualify for SSDI within a 30-day period after filing their application. Since there’s no five-month waiting period for those applicants and the SSA expedites their claim reviews, they likely cannot receive any SSDI back pay.

This also extends to all disabilities listed in the Compassionate Allowance List. Such conditions develop so fast that they require SSDI approval before 30 days to receive adequate benefits.

Will I Get All My Disability Back Pay Money at Once?

Yes, the amount will arrive as a lump-sum deposit for 12-17 months’ worth of SSDI payments all at once. If you file through an attorney, the SSA will deduct your legal fees from your total payment.

After the SSA approves your claim, you’ll get something called an award letter in the mail. This letter should state your monthly benefit amount, so multiply that amount by 12 to calculate your payment.

Raise Your Approval Chances By Working With an SSD Attorney

Through working with a Social Security disability attorney, you can gather the right evidence while avoiding pitfalls in the legal process.

The best part is their services require no upfront fees, meaning you won’t get charged until you win an adequate settlement. There are no fees in the off chance your attorney loses your case.

Start working with a disability attorney through LegalASAP’s 500+ attorney network located throughout the United States. You can fill out this short evaluation form to start your FREE consultation with an attorney or call 1-888-927-3080 to speak to someone directly.