Understanding Your Social Security Disability Notice of Award

If you have recently received your Notice of Award from the Social Security Administration, Congratulations! My name is Kaitlin Wildoner, and I’m an attorney who helps disabled individuals obtain their Social Security disability benefits as quickly as possible so they can focus on getting better. Today we’re going to talk about understanding your notice of award and what to expect next.

What is the Notice of Award?

SSDI Notice of Award

If you have applied for and been successful in obtaining SSDI or SSI benefits, your notice of award will explain your monthly benefit. Your monthly benefit for SSDI benefits is calculated based on what you were able to pay into the system while you were able to work. The notice of award will also explain how many months of past-due benefits you can expect to receive in your lump sum back due payment. It will also explain your ongoing monthly benefit.

SSI Notice of Award

If you applied for, and won, SSI benefits, your notice of award is usually a little bit longer and it comes after you’ve completed what’s known as the PERC interview with the field office that’s responsible for processing your benefits. The SSI notice of award will include a monthly accounting of your benefits, which will outline the largest potential benefit. Right now, the largest federal SSI benefit is $841 a month. In the notice of award, Social Security will then subtract out any earned or unearned income or imputed income to you to calculate your monthly benefit.

With SSI, your monthly benefit may change on a monthly basis as it is dependent on your income and any income or help that you receive from others.

The Back-Due Benefits

Once you receive your notice of award for both SSD and SSI, you can expect to receive the underpayment that’s owed to you, which is also known as the back-due benefits. The ongoing monthly benefit usually starts up in the next month or two, depending on how late you are into the month, depending on what day your monthly benefit is going to be deposited.

Essentially, once you get that notice of award, you can expect to receive the back due benefits and your ongoing monthly benefit in the next couple of months.

Social Security Disability Attorney

If you are disabled and unable to work, click the link here to schedule a free consultation or give us a call directly to see what I can do to help you.