Frequently Asked Questions: Benefits & Qualifying
When Do Disability Insurance Benefits Start?
Once you are approved by the Social Security Administration (SSA), which could take anywhere from three months to over two years, your coverage will commence for either SSDI or SSI. If you are approved for SSI disability benefits, your monthly benefit payments will start right away.
If you are approved for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, there is a waiting period of five full months from your established onset date, the day that the SSA determines you were disabled, before your payments will start. This doesn’t mean the approval date, however – if your approval occurs more than 5 full months after your onset date, you need not wait. Please note that any back pay and retroactive pay you are owed will also be awarded at the time of approval.
Other Benefits & Qualifying FAQs:
- How Does The SSA Determine Disability?
- When Do Disability Insurance Benefits Start?
- How Much Will I Get Every Month?
- Once Approved, Do Benefits Ever Stop?
- Do I Need to Be A U.S. Citizen / Taxpayer to Be Eligible for SSDI?
- Can Spouses or Children Get Disability Benefits?
- Can I Still Work and Receive Disability Benefits?
- What Is the Work Incentive Program / Trial Work Period?
- What is the Social Security “Red Book”?
- Can I Get Medicare or Medicaid with SSDI and SSI?
- What’s the Difference Between Back Pay and Retroactive Benefits?
- Do I Need an Advocate?
- How Do Advocates Like Citizens Disability Help Me?
