Nearly 6 million new claims a year means getting Social Security disability is a long process

The Social Security Administration, family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers or referral agencies refer many calls to local disability attorneys to get help with questions about disability claims. Scott E. Davis, P.C. gets calls daily from potential new disability claimants with a wide array of questions and concerns. One of the most common questions that we get is “Why does it take so long to get disability benefits?” and while we would prefer to answer all of the questions we get, there is simply no one good answer to this. However, there is a surprising statistic that I found in relation to the timeline of filing a claim and getting approved for disability benefits. According to the local SSA offices that process disability claims for our offices in Phoenix and Las Vegas, 2.7 million people filed for Social Security retirement benefits and 3.2 million people filed for disability benefits in 2010. With so many new filings, it is no wonder that it takes the Social Security Administration so long to decide claims for benefits! We may not be able to tell you exactly how long it will take, but we are dedicated to helping our clients navigate and understand their claims for disability benefits