Some SSDI applicants in Illinois may be able to recover retroactive benefits that date back to the date that they were first disabled even if that date was earlier than when they first applied for SSDI benefits. Retroactive disability benefits differ from SSDI backpay because they may go back in time beyond the application date. These benefits may help the recipients to pay for their expenses so that they can have some financial stability. A Social Security disability attorney might help eligible applicants with requesting retroactive benefits that date back to the dates that they became disabled.
Understanding Retroactive Benefits
When disabled applicants apply for SSDI benefits, they may wait for months before receiving approval. When they are approved, they will receive back pay for all of the months that they would have received SSDI benefits back to the dates of their applications. Workers who are initially denied and fail to appeal their denials and later reapply will only receive back pay of accrued benefits to the second application date.
Retroactive benefits are different from SSDI benefits. They are only available to SSDI applicants and not to people who have applied for SSI. These benefits allow a look back period back to the date of first disability up to 12 months prior to the application.
Eligibility for Retroactive Benefits
Not all SSDI applicants will be eligible for retroactive benefits. In order to meet the eligibility guidelines for retroactive benefits, the workers must show that they were first disabled more than five months before they submitted their initial applications for SSDI benefits. This is because there is a five-month waiting period for applying for SSDI benefits. If the worker’s disability first began more than five months before he or she submitted the application for SSDI benefits, he or she may receive both retroactive benefits and back pay when the application is approved.
A Social Security disability lawyer may help clients to determine how much they might receive in retroactive benefits and back pay when their applications are approved. The back pay and retroactive benefits amounts will be paid in a lump sum to the disabled workers. They will then begin receiving their monthly SSDI benefits payments on an ongoing basis subject to periodic disability reviews. Social Security disability lawyers help their clients with appealing denials and securing the benefits to which they are entitled, including the retroactive benefits and back pay amounts.
