How to Follow Up on a Disability Claim

If you have filed a Social Security disability claim, it is important that you follow up on the application. With the large amount of applications processed by the Social Security Administration, it is possible for an application to occasionally get lost or misplaced. Following up on your application will ensure that it gets processed in a timely manner.

1. Locate the paperwork that you were given when you filed an application for Social Security disability benefits.


2. Read though the paperwork to determine the contact information of the worker who filed the claim for you.


3. Contact the worker who filed the claim for you initially and ask them if they can give you the current status of the claim you have filed.


4. Contact the local Social Security office and ask to speak to someone in regards to an open claim if you cannot locate the contact information for the worker who filed the claim initially.


5. Provide the worker with a Social Security number so that they can pull up the claim.


6. Ask if the information that they have requested from doctors or hospitals has been received in a timely manner.


7. Get the names of the doctors or hospitals that have not yet sent the needed medical records to the Social Security Administration. The delay of doctors and hospitals is often what holds up the approval process of a Social Security disability claim.


8. Contact the doctor’s office or hospital that has not yet turned in the required paperwork and ask them if you could pick up these documents from them personally.


9. Bring the needed medical documentation that you have gathered to the Social Security Administration office that is handling the disability claim you have filed.


10. Wait an additional 30 days, and then call the worker who is handling the claim again to see what the status of the claim is at this point.