Disability Hearings: What Does In Writing Mean?

 Posted on February 04, 2012 in Already Applied for Disability Benefits

You waited for years to finally have your Social Security disability hearing and at the end of the court appearance the judge may have told you, "I will review the file and you will receive my decision in the mail." Sometimes, a judge may even say "you can expect my decision in the mail in 3-4 weeks." Unfortunately, more often than not claimants wait for months before they receive a decision in the mail.

Waiting for a judge's disability decision can be extremely nerve wracking. A common question that my firm receives is "Can you help me get my decision sooner?" The worst part of getting a decision is that your Social Security disability lawyer cannot really do much to speed up the process. A call to the hearing office will commonly be followed by an abrupt reply, "the decision is in writing." What does this mean? The short answer is anything. In writing could mean that a decision has been made and it only needs to be written. If this is the case, some claimants will receive their decision shortly after the phone call. In writing could also mean nothing is happening. Sometimes the court is busy with other cases and in writing could mean that it is sitting in a pile somewhere waiting for its turn to be reviewed.

A phone call or letter to the court is usually the only recourse to find out what is going on with your particular post hearing SSDI or SSI claim. The entire process is slow and the written decision is usually no exception

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