Hi! Well I finally received new information regarding my SSDI. I logged in to the SS site and I have a benefits award letter and how much my monthly and backpay is going to be but I am a little bit confused as to when I will actually get the payments. It says there is a one time payment(backpay) dated today but I have checked my bank and there is nothing there. Will they wait until the scheduled date of regular payments which is the fourth Wednesday of the month? Also, where it says monthly benefits it states 0.00. I am so confused!

Congrats on your approval. Be grateful you were approved. Your benefits will not be zero, must be some kind of computer error.

Well, just an update. Received my back pay woot! Another question, is the benefit letter and the award letter different? I haven't received anything stating when my next review is or anything. Hope you all have a good day!

If you were approved for SSDI.....

You will get a thick packet in the mail. Inside will be a letter & several booklets. One booklet will be regarding SSDI which will explain everything.

In my case, I initially received a Final Approval letter which was about 1/2 inch thick which basically, explained everything.
2 weeks later, I received a Medicare form which had a password for me to use (which I never used) regarding Medicare since I didn't have a card yet. I was suppose to carry this paperwork around w/me until I received my Medicare cards.

Approximately, 30 days after I received my Approval letter, I received the "thick packet."

It depends on whether or not your claim is for ssi or social security disability. If it's concurrent, meaning both, then the ssi portion of the claim will be processed first, then once that is complete, a payment center will process the disability side of the claim. If it's an ssi claim, a claims rep from the ssa office will be calling you or they will send you a notice with a date and time telling you when they need to talk with you. In all, everything should be done within about 30 days, if it's just ssi, probably a bit sooner. The ssa will determine how much your monthly and past due amount is then you will be sent a check or direct deposit if you provided them with bank account info when you filed. If the ssa approved your claim and you didn't have to go before an alj, you had better check to see what date they found you disabled. 99% of the time, when there is a favorable decision issued on the initial level, which in itself is very rare, they do not go back very far if at all prior to the date of application. When the ssa says you became disabled and when you alleged to have become disabled is often two different dates. If you disagree with the date that the ssa found you disabled, then you may want to consider filing an appeal. On the other hand, if you're okay with missing out on past due benefits, then you can accept what they gave you.

Thank you for answering my questions. You all have been very helpful. Yes I was approved for SSDI. I received my fully favorable on May 3,2013. I just received my back pay so now I will wait for the booklets. Thanks again!

If SS changes a person's Alleged Onset Date, than the applicant receives a Partially Favorable Decision, not a Fully Favorable Decision. The decision letter also clearly states approval date, so it's not as if this is something SS tries to hide. And it's only common for an Alleged Onset Date to be changed if someone had turned 50 or 55 while waiting for approval, and even then an ALJ often asks the applicant during a hearing if they're willing to amend their application in exchange for an On the Record decision. By having the applicant agree, they generally lose the option to appeal.

*admin edit*...... what I was explaining in my post. When the SSA approves a claim at the initial level, they don't give you an option of the alleged onset date. I'm not talking at all about anything to do with a hearing before an ALJ. I specifically indicated what to be aware of when it came to being approved on the initial level because it's rare and if the SSA approves the claim as of the application date and you feel you've been disabled 12 months prior to that, you may want to appeal if the evidence is there to support it.