Please!! Need advice!! Has anyone here won a second claim in the initial stage while waiting for the Appeals Council to decide what to do with the first ALJ denial? I was awarded SSDI a couple of weeks ago after 2 1/2 years and I am worried to death that the AC may vacate my win and remand it back to the ALJ instead of just upholding my second award and awarding me the first claim. The thought of going before that ALJ again is unbearable to me. It was one of the worst experiences of my life and I don't want to have to repeat it!! I am trying to decide if I should just withdraw my appeal on the first claim. There is alot of backpay at stake, but I don't think it's worth the risk of loosing what I have now. I was so stressed out through the waiting and now that I have it I just don't want to have to worry anymore!! Anyone have anything to say that might help me make a decision>? Thanks in advance!!

I don't have any experiences with filing multiple claims.

I do have experience with anxiety and depression and wasting time fixating on things. Try to stop doing that !

The AC is there to fix problems that SSA didn't get right the first time around.

Your second claim is done. You won. Woo Hoo ! Celebrate (or breathe a gaint sigh of relief) The AC will either say they agree with you and your claim should date back to the original, thus granting you back pay or they will say you weren't disabled then, but are now.

If all of the work is done, I'd leave it be and see if you can get some backpay out of the deal. If the AC says they want you to come in and have another appearance before a judge, maybe then you might want to decline as it's not worth the stress. Why stop the process now ? Right now if you proceed it seems like you could end up just as you are now OR with some backpay. To me, that sounds much better than all of the aggravation you went through on your first claim being for nothing.

Good Luck whatever you decide to do.

Very few decisions are changed by the Appeals Council so the likelihood of either a favorable decision or a remand to the ALJ or a reversal of an approval are very small. I would just wait and see what happens, but only if you can stop worrying yourself to death. But only you can make the decision.

Hello my name is shawna. Sounds like I am in the same boat as you are or were. I applied for my disability in 2007 got turned down, went before a judge, got turned down by him and filed before the appeals council. As I was still waiting to hear an answer from the appeal council, I submitted a new application in December of 2010. Today I got the approval letter from this new app. However, they found my disability start date to be May of 2010. So.....what about my back pay? I mean is it up to the appeals council to decide whether I get it or not? And really, what are the chances of them going against the 5/2010 date that SSDI decided upon know what I mean? Your concern was that the appeals council could go against the SSDI decision of you getting it. I doubt they could do that since their job is to deal with the past determination that the judge decided upon. I hope they cannot do anything like that. Now I am worried =-(. Please let me know how this turned out for you or any advice you may have. Thank you very much. I can't wait to hear from you. God bless.

Hi LB,

We haven't seen mj back on this forum for awhile. It's always better to start your own thread so people don't glance at it and think this is all old news.

If SSA says you were disabled as of May 2010, benefits don't start until 5 or 6 months after that anyhow, so I would think your backpay amount would be more than a month or two. There are a few posters here who would be better able to figure that one out. When did you start getting your monthly checks ?

You need to write the Appeals Council with this new evidence. They can either remand it back to the ALJ or just approve it right then and there, but you don't have to go in front of that same judge you can ask for a new one. You need to do this pretty quickly because the appeals council only gives you a certain amount of time to submit new information. Don't reapply because they will use that as your date your disability started, and you'll still have to fight for your back pay.

Hello I'm new to the site. My daughter case was denied three times and it is now at the appeal council it has been their 14 months today but I did a new application in May of last year and she was approved in August but still have not heard from appeal council. In feb. the appeal council said they had put her file in the system for screening to call back in a month, called back in a month they say it's in room 19 but isn't anyone working on it.
So my question is since she have already been appoved will the appeal council also approve her? [minor child] How long do the appeal coucil take?