Hello everyone,

First of all, My prayers are with all who find themselves in the system of SSDI or considering entering it.

I have just a couple of questions. My 4 year quest for SSDI is (hopefully) nearing the end. I received a call from my attorney (Binder & Binder not recommended, contact me for a separate post as to why)I was informed that the administrative law judge made an OTR decision of fully favorable. That was June 27th, by Wednesday of the following week, the attorney asked if I had received the good news. I had not. The attorney called the hearing office and requested a copy of the decision be sent to them so that she could fax it to me. Does this sound like normal procedure? I received the fax from the attorney, but I STILL haven't received anything from the Hearing and Appeals Office as of this date. When I call the Attorney they act like they are down with me and tell me to go the local office. The local office says that they cannot do anything when appeals office has the case!

Any ideas or suggestions as to when I might receive the award letter and back pay/monthly benefit or anything else. I am so confused anymore and don't know WHO is telling me the truth.

Sorry this is so long.

J. Gunn

Hi JG, thanks for this post (not too long)!

What State/City is your case being heard in? The wait time seems to vary depending on the State you live in.

That doesn't sound right - there are several pieces of paper SSD sends you... BEFORE.... Binder ever gets paid. So for Binder to act like they are done with you does not make sense. I don't think they get paid until you get your retro check. And they WANT to get paid! I PM'd you re this.

See my post for the timeline of notices I got in the state of Georgia (the WORST State for processing SSD).

Peace, and patience,
Astern

I am curious as to why you say Binder and Binder are not recommended. I have been with them for the last several months and they have been wonderful with me. I still have not been approved, but it has been 4 months since Binder and Binder submitted my papers for SSDI. I have RSD and Muscle Tension Dysphonia. Basically at this point, I cannot walk or talk. Makes it quite difficult to work when I cannot leave my apt without help. Anyway, I was just wondering why you had problems with Binder and Binder. Thank you..

I also have high praises for Binder & Binder. Well worth the maximum $5300 fee.

They do take their time, don't they. Trust your attorney. You got the fax of the letter. They might take about 90 days from the decision to inform you, then they start paying you monthly and also will send your retroactive check. They have to perform math here to figure out what they owe you, so the big check might be much later than the monthly. I don't know what the legal time frames are, but this is based on my experience as a social worker. Congrats on running the SSDI gauntlet. You won!!