West Virginia residents who file for Social Security disability benefits should take care to avoid certain mistakes. These mistakes may not only prolong the application process, but they can also result in claims being denied.
Individuals who are applying for disability benefits should obtain all necessary medical records and thoroughly review them. It is not unusual for claimants to discover that the physician who is treating them does not agree with their claim of disability. Every effort should be made to look over the records of all medical sources that may be submitted with a disability claim.
Claimants may request a complete treating medical source statement from their physician if the physician supports their claim of disability. Information that should be included in the statement includes prognosis, diagnosis, the claimant’s limitations, reactions to treatment and opinions regarding how the claimant’s limitation restricts the ability to work. Having such a statement from a medical source can improve the chances that a disability claim may be approved.
In order to ensure that a claim won’t be denied for non-medical reasons while being processed at the state disability office, claimants should always provide current contact information. It is important that claimants can be contacted at any time by the disability examiner during the process.
Claimants should also be sure to honor information requests submitted by the disability examiner. The requests should be completed in full and returned to the disability examiner as soon as possible so that the necessary information in on hand for a determination.
An attorney who practices Social Security disability law may help a client navigate the process of filing for benefits. The attorney could also assist with obtaining the medical documents necessary to verify a client’s disability.