How a disability claim works

The five stages

See the stages as a visual guide →

1. The application

   The claim starts with an application to Social Security. A state agency gathers the medical records, sometimes arranges an examination, and makes the first decision. Most applications are denied here. A first decision usually takes several months.

2. Reconsideration

   An appeal of the first denial has to be filed within 60 days. In Georgia, a different reviewer at the same state agency looks at the file again. Most claims are denied again at this stage too.

3. The hearing before a judge

   After the reconsideration denial — again within 60 days — the claim goes to a hearing before a Social Security administrative law judge. This is where representation makes the most difference — see hearing representation. The judge takes testimony, often questions a vocational expert about the work a person could still do, and decides the claim on the full record. The wait for a hearing date can be a year or more.

4. The Appeals Council

   If the judge denies the claim, the next step — within 60 days — is to ask the Appeals Council to review the decision. It can decline to review, send the case back for another hearing, or, less often, change the decision itself.

5. Federal court

   If the Appeals Council does not help, the claim can be taken to federal district court as a civil action, filed within 60 days. This is a lawsuit, not another hearing. See appeals to federal court for how that stage works.

Where claims are heard

Hearings for southeast Georgia are held through the Savannah hearing office. See local Social Security offices and the hearing office.

Starting mid-claim

Representation can begin at any of these stages — on a claim someone filed themselves, on one that was just denied, or close to a hearing date. Earlier is better, because the record is built stage by stage, but it is rarely too late to help.

How long it takes

A first decision takes months; reaching a hearing often takes a year or more; federal court adds time beyond that. The part of the timeline that does not move is the 60-day deadline at each appeal step — miss one, and the claim can have to start over.