It does sound like the paper work was messed up when the judge was reading it....

Hopefully it is a simple fix to get this mistake set right.

Thanks Jo*mar. My fear is even if it's their mistake and they rectify it, it may take another year to get the hearing.

Dear Jim -

Sorry to be so late in opening this thread. It does indeed sound like a nightmare.

Has your lawyer told you that it will take another year to get a hearing? I have to think there's a proceedure for a motion for a rehearing based upon err if filed within 30 days or so of the judge's order. Please check it out.

Mike

Mike, my wife's lawyer told me we have 30 days to straighten it out. All week I've been in contact with my wife's former employer, a very very large defense contractor. What we need to prove is whether pay she received 8 months before she filed for SSDI was short term disability, not hours worked. Her W-2 does not state it was STD but "retirement" instead. We've given the employer her SS#, her company ID number but instead they want her pin number which Suzy has forgotten after 4 years. They are mailing us the pin number just in case we're fakes. We'll use this pin number to aquire accurate records. However, yesterday they did mail a copy of the original letter of benefit sent to Suzy stating she will receive 6 months of short term disability at her full salary dated Jan. 2007. I faxed it to the lawyer hoping that may be enough proof. One other comment told to me from the lawyer who said SS felt that so called short term pay sounded way too much to be STD. Depending how long you've worked for this outfit they will and did pay Suzy full pay for 6 months then she was terminated.

I do have a question. My wife said she does recall, when filling out the application for SSDI, that a question was posed to her wether she was receiving or had received disability pay in which she stated yes. Does any one recall if that is one of the questions asked in the interview or application process, because it sounds like it should be asked in order to avoid this mess which only cropped up now, not at any previous rejections.

I was receiving WC when I applied for SSDI, so I still had income coming in too. I don't specifically remember having to document that, but I must have because I know SSDI knows about my WC because they lowered my backpay, my SSDI amount, and my kids' SSDI amounts to offset the difference (because with all of the above, I would be over the cap of 80% of pre disablity income on my SSDI amount.)

Hi Jim,

I posted on this thread before and truly feel so bad that you and your wife are going through all this BS....I don't want to repeat but I was just approved withing the last 3 months, it took almost three years and did not have to go in front of a judge either. I had a attorney just as you do. When a problem or situation came up his office took care of it since he is the one who will get his payment direct from SS. The only thing I had to do was read the papers agree and sign. I don't understand why you have to do all this work. Outside of providing him with the proper papers he needs he should be fighting for your wife.....If don't mnd me asking what state do you live in? In our state, short term disability is through the state in almost 90% of the cases only some companies have private short term disability. The disability is taken right out of your paycheck from the day you begin to work....

In my experience with attorney's some are very, very good and some I wonder how they even passed the bar exam....Maybe leaning on your attorney might just get some speeder results....

Truly I wish you guys the best!!!

Gabbycakes

Gabbycakes, Her short term was paid by the employer at full wage by her company. The lawyer Suzy has is supposed to be one of the best in Northern VA. The issue maybe two fold with me doing some of the leg work. I am my wife's advocate and do many stressful things for her and the other is we are dealing with a private company not a government agency. Having the exployee and or spouse gather personal data from the private sector may be easier and quicker. I do like this lawyer except I did get taken aback when she seemed to agree with SS that this so called "short term disability pay" seemed high.

Hi Jim,

It must be a bear of a task to try and get through the red tape of an employer who employees 350,000 people. When I was able to work full time I was a business/software consultant and had a to deal with many difficult problems for clients with insurance companies, goverments agencies etc. That was some time ago. I know things are so different today. I do work PT. I have one very small business I consult for and even though it is small the problems are the same. What I try and do when I have to deal with something that I know is going to be insane, thats the only word I could thnk of, I attack it like they are going to attack me...It sounds like you have covered all your bases I wish I had some advise. The only thing I can think of is when I was going through the same process my case manager at the SS Office was really a great help. Again, I did not have a lot of issues it just took almost 3 years. I also live in a very small rural area so when you walk into the office, most days, there's only 5 people sitting there.

It is very kind of you to help you wife in this way. I have friends who suffer with other type of issues and the husbands are just mean... I am also lucky my husband has supported me from the beginning. I am not going to say it's wasn't stressfull at times but we made it.

Again, good luck and keep us all posted.

Hi Jim.

I am sorry you are having such a rough time with your case. I just wanted to throw in my two cents here. You are doing the right thing by staying involved with your case, and not just expecting the lawyer to take care of it. In my experience (I won an 8 year fight for workers comp / disability) the more you know about your case the better. Some people can’t handle the stress and so they stay out of it. But if you can handle the stress, then it can only help you to be your own advocate, and your wife is very lucky to have you involved. Even the best lawyers (I had a good one) can make mistakes, be overworked, have conflicting priorities due to other cases, or just plain forget things. Staying involved and being a squeaky wheel is the best way to ensure the best results from the lawyer. Also, at least in my case (although I would imagine this is rare), by assisting the lawyer enough to make their job easier, they accepted a lower fee when the case was done. Best of luck with your case, and God Bless You.

Bernclay-

Jim,

Congrats....Everything will start going in the correct direction.

As far as her medicare I received mine immediately because they go by the on-set date, which from what I can tell is over 2 years ago.

Congratulations again....Keep us posted.

Gabbycakes