Hello all:

Back in November 2012 I applied for SSDI but I was unable to complete the flurry of forms they sent me so my claim wound up being denied. I could not complete the forms because they made me stress out and I was overwhelmed by them. Depression and anxiety among other mental disorders are part of my disability.

A couple of months later I hired an advocate who filed a new claim for me.
That new claim got approved very quickly.

The problem is the onset date. The SSA decided I was disabled since Feb 2013 (the date my advocate filed my claim on). Since there is a 5 month waiting period, my first benefit became due in August 2013. So far so good.

On my first application I used the onset date of 04/01/2010 since I stopped working then. The second application filed by the advocate also used 4/01/2010 as the onset date.

The advocate feels that I should file reconsideration and have the onset date changed to 04/01/10 because the denial of the first claim which I filed was based on a "technicality".

Does anyone feel that I would be successful in having the onset date revised on reconsideration?

If I do the reconsideration and the onset date is changed to the 4/01/10 date, I would think the SSA would pay me back due benefits. Would they go back that far or only for one year?

I think the advocate wants to file the reconsideration in hope that they do approve the change of onset date thus he would be able to get his fee.
I have not had to pay the advocate since there were no back due benefits paid yet.

Any comments appreciated.