Disability benefits are often the only source of income someone with serious injuries or illnesses can collect to pay their bills. Although nearly ten million people collect these benefits, many people are still getting a denial of their employer-provided long-term disability benefits. If you experienced a denial, you need to know you can fight it with an appeal. Here are the steps you should take to appeal a denial:
Understand why you received a denial
Applying for disability benefits requires a lot of information to prove your disability and the severity of it. When you receive your disability letter, make sure to thoroughly review it to ensure that you understand why you did not get an approval. Once you identify the reasons behind the denial, make efforts to fix the problem, like getting additional medical proof of disability.
Build your strongest case
There is a limited number of appeals you can make to earn disability benefits. Once your appeals process makes its way to federal court, there are no more chances to earn these benefits. Because of the strict limit in application chances, you want to do everything possible to strengthen your first application.
Gathering medical records, doctor’s notes, medical reports, emergency room records, a timeline of disability development, and supporting letters from doctors can be especially difficult while you are still living with your disability, which is where the next step comes in.
Hire an attorney
Disability benefits attorneys know the hardships that come with these claims, and they know how to help you in your appeals process. The sooner you reach out to an attorney, the sooner they can begin working for you. Skilled lawyers can help you review your denial, compile evidence for your appeal, and present as strong of a case as possible to earn the benefits you deserve. A good lawyer can save you time, money and energy in your appeals process, making them invaluable in your efforts.