Today I called ssid and talked to two competent agents who were respectful and very helpful. It appears that my direct deposit actually did start and a paper check was never issued as I was told yesterday. I have a prepaid Greendot account as my direct deposit, and Greendot doesn't do a good job of letting you know limits on direct deposits when you set it up with them. Seems like their is a federal law of a $10,000 deposit limit on prepaid cards I set this up the very day that I got the awards letter thinking that a paper check was already in route via usps. But it wasn't as they tried two times to direct deposit and it was rejected. I never meant for the backpay to be a direct deposit! They couldn't send me a paper check without me first cancelling my direct deposit, but Denise sent a note to the treasury dept to make that happen without cancelling my direct deposit. What I learned is if the person you talk to at ssdi seems confused or lost hang up and call again as you will talk to someone else who may be very astute and ahead of the curve. My check should be here next week. Cheers!

Yikes to the underlined quote above!

Utilizing the national 800# for anything of importance is generally not reliable. Someone sounding competent over the phone doesn't always translate into them following through. Walking this info in to your local office is always advised!!! If you are able to update it online and can print a record of it, that should be reliable as well.

BUT, it's best to provide account information for direct deposit at the time of your application! This is the fastest, most secure, least complicated way.

Anyone providing direct deposit account info should know that it is for monthly checks and backpay. And using a regular savings or checking account is a better option as a consumer IMHO. If you have an issue comingling funds, you can often open a new account with very little money at a credit union or small, local bank. (I have an extra account that I opened to have a backup savings account that only required $25 to sign up.)

Opening a new savings account without a debit card is usually the easiest route for people who have previously had an account closed by a bank.

I have had very good experiences with both the local office and the 800#. Information provided has been accurate and helpful.

I'm glad you had good experiences with the 800#.

BUT, it is only that, your experience. And your experience goes against what experts in the field advise.

http://ultimatedisabilityguide.blogs...-security.html

The "experts" you are referring to are attorneys whose bread an butter is based on such "advice". The truth is, that lots of us are prevailing without attorneys.

I'm really confused by your logic here. Why would an attorney be biased against the national 800#? How in the world would it serve him to direct pro se applicants to their local office over the national 800#?

A supervisor at my local office explained to me that the local office has greater access to applicant/beneficiary records then they do at the national 800#. The local agents also receive more in depth training. They're calls are not clocked. You can actually reach them again if they make an error, making them much more accountable. All these things, and I'm sure I'm leaving others out as well, make service at the local office much more reliable.

And when you walk something in, you can get it date stamped. A papertrail when dealing with a government agency is always a good thing.

If being cautious saves even a small percentage of applicants/beneficiaries from a delay or loss of benefits, is that not worthwhile? Everything sailed along smoothly for you. GREAT. But if your bad advice causes someone a two month long delay in getting their backpay, and they're evicted in the meantime...

You wouldn't ask the receptionist in your doctor's office to interpret your X-ray. An LVN may have a better idea, but could still be wrong. The RN probably knows more than he/she would be willing to admit, but won't do it because it is the job of the radiologist.

The radiologist might be able to record your visit to the office in the electronic record with a little training, but he/she should be interpreting X-rays.

Expecting the 800# TSR's to be able to read a crystal ball and tell you when another component will finish and what the answer will be is just asking too much. However, expecting them to interpret what HAS happened, is reasonable. Expecting the adjudicating staff, the claims reps in your office, to answer phone calls about office hours, making appointments, etc. takes them away from doing the job they are trained to do - processing claims.

Thanks Janke! (I seem to do a lot of this, hmm?)

Isn't it true that the 800# TSR's don't have the same access to applicant's records as those at the local offices, and they also don't have the same level of training, as well? So perhaps they should be able to answer simple questions, but it's unfair to expect them to deal with more complicated issues?

It would seem to me that if you are going to receive a check once a month (possibly for a lifetime), you would get a checking or saving account for direct deposits. Perferably at a bank that has "no minimum" amount fees and free checking.

I'm with you on this Mz. Migraine! I am still in "stage 1" in my SSDI, but they have my checking account info already. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will need it sooner than later. Karen