Social Security Disability Payments

[MELISAZACK]

okay Dis.. here is a question maybe someone can help me with. My DH back payment hit our account today for SSD. he was awarded 2years back payment - we got 18 I assume a 6 month waiting period applies.
Now we ONLY got his money- my DS was not paid in this amount. The other day my DH called and they said they are still working on that part.. anyone know what the time frame is for payment for the children??
We have to pay the back pay to the LTD from his employer over the last two years so his back pay if coming in and going right back out. I am hoping that isn't the case for my son's payment too cause we have lost 50% of my DH pay with all this each year and any little money would help.
Anyone know how long it take to get the childs payment forwarded to you?
thanks!

 

[C.Ann]

DD is on total disability due to a car accident back in 2006.. Last fall she finally got her retro (lump sum) and her DD's magically appeared in their checking account around two weeks later.. They always process the children last, but it doesn't take very long at all..

 

[DSNLvR]

My aunt waited 3+ years for her disability lump sum, her kids payments were added about 3 wks later (3 kids all were added on the same day)

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

4 months before the kids payments were credited. Just make sure all the paperwork is correct. They will catch up.

 

[MELISAZACK]

Thanks for those answers.. I will just keep on a look out for that deposit then.. funny part is we got the money but still haven't recevied the award letter.. LTD told us they can't proceed till we get that and can fax it to them.. oh well, another waiting game I guess.

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

I got it back in the 1980'a and after getting my big first check, I got one for my DD within days.
I had no clue about anything, and a week after the checks, I got a letter saying I would be getting checks! lol

 

[Lachesis00]

Be lucky about getting kid's $. Back when I was on it in the 90's, I never received $ for my son. I didn't even know about it. Even now, it isn't put out there easily.

I am 3 years waiting (over 3 years). I have faxed all my doctors, faxing my stuff...
I go before a judge soon (no date, but got 2 letters stating it will be soon) to get back on it, for life. It's very frusterating.

Does anyone have an idea on how long it takes from getting the "It will be soon" to the case going before the judge? I know I will get one more letter with the actual date, and the case happen 20 days after that.

Good luck to you. How come you have to pay back LTD? I never had to?

 

[MELISAZACK]

Well, Here in PA - from the time we filed to be in front of a judge due to a 1st denial of benefits - it took 14 months to get a hearing date.
We were given an Bench decision right in court -fully favorable which doesn't happen very often according to our atty. He told us after court the judge had 60 days to make a decision and let us know by mail. So we were GREATFUL we were told that day - It took 1 month to get the back payment and 1st check doesn't come till 12/16/09.
so I guess we are moving along pretty well at this point. but took over 2 years to complete....
I read somewhere on the SS site that spouce careing for children of a disabled person are entitled too so we will see if we have to ask for that or not.
best wishes to you all who are still fighting it out....

 

[MELISAZACK]

Good luck to you. How come you have to pay back LTD? I never had to?

Sorry missed that question at first..
Since my DH's LTD was paid for by his company and not the employee you have to pay back the benefits if you win SS that is how the company keeps their premiums so low... and you can't double dip.. stinks in a way.
now on the other hand if DH paid the preiums then we wouldn't owe it at all.

 

[golfgal]

Sorry missed that question at first..
Since my DH's LTD was paid for by his company and not the employee you have to pay back the benefits if you win SS that is how the company keeps their premiums so low... and you can't double dip.. stinks in a way.
now on the other hand if DH paid the preiums then we wouldn't owe it at all.

Something is NOT right about this. I would check with the actual insurance company that offers the disability plan. You can layer plans so you have partial from one source (employer) and some from another source (private, SSDI, etc.). It might not be legal for the company to collect your SSDI as payment for their own LTD payout. Group LTD premiums are LOW anyway, it has nothing to do with collecting SSDI payments to make up for that. Your SSDI should be adjusted to make up for anything you collected from your group LTD plan so you don't go over 100% of his salary but there is nothing preventing you from getting to that 100%.

 

[AnnaS]

If I remember correctly, if you are taking care of a child under 16 - you are entitled to benefits - but whatever your child(ren) gets, it will be split between the # of children under 16 and spouse.

There is a total family benefit paid which is about 1/2 the amount your husband gets per month. If your child is supposed to get say $500 a month and is under 16, If you want to collect also, then it would be $250 each. When your child reaches 16, yours stop and the child receives the full amount until high school (19 if still in high school).

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I read somewhere on the SS site that spouce careing for children of a disabled person are entitled too so we will see if we have to ask for that or not.
best wishes to you all who are still fighting it out....

My DH has been on SSD for about 12 years now. There has been no benefit for me for my DD. The money is split between my DD and my DSD. She's 19 but her mother had her declared disabled (mental illness) so the money is split still. I think her mother just liked the money - but that is a whole other thread.

 

[PammyK]

Something is NOT right about this. I would check with the actual insurance company that offers the disability plan. You can layer plans so you have partial from one source (employer) and some from another source (private, SSDI, etc.). It might not be legal for the company to collect your SSDI as payment for their own LTD payout. Group LTD premiums are LOW anyway, it has nothing to do with collecting SSDI payments to make up for that. Your SSDI should be adjusted to make up for anything you collected from your group LTD plan so you don't go over 100% of his salary but there is nothing preventing you from getting to that 100%.

Having spent 10 years managing LTD claims for group (i.e. corporate) contracts with three different insurance companies, I have a pretty good understanding of LTD policies, although things may have changed since I got out of the soul-sucking industry. But up until at least 2001, I can tell you that just about all of the policies include provisions offsetting any Social Security Disability benefits that are received. Many actually allowed an estimated Social Security Disability benefit amount to be offset beginning six months after the onset of the disabling condition to avoid large overpayments. However, claimants were always given the option to sign a reimbursement agreement where they agreed to repay any overpaid LTD benefits if the full LTD benefit was paid pending the approval of Social Security. Most policies also included a minimum benefit (usually $50-$100/month) if the Social Security Disability benefits were as much as or more than the monthly LTD benefit.

A few policies had different provisions, or special options for executives and employees in specialty fields (doctors, attorneys) but for the most part Social Security Disability was always offset.

Also bear in mind that Social Security Disability benefits are normally not taxable so even though the monthly amout of benefits may be less than the employee's pre-tax earnings, the numbers aren't as different once you factor in taxes and such. This is why, if your employer offers the option, it is always best to pay your LTD premiums with post-tax dollars. If the premiums are paid with post-tax dollars then your LTD benefits are typically not taxable.

 

[golfgal]

Having spent 10 years managing LTD claims for group (i.e. corporate) contracts with three different insurance companies, I have a pretty good understanding of LTD policies, although things may have changed since I got out of the soul-sucking industry. But up until at least 2001, I can tell you that just about all of the policies include provisions offsetting any Social Security Disability benefits that are received. Many actually allowed an estimated Social Security Disability benefit amount to be offset beginning six months after the onset of the disabling condition to avoid large overpayments. However, claimants were always given the option to sign a reimbursement agreement where they agreed to repay any overpaid LTD benefits if the full LTD benefit was paid pending the approval of Social Security. Most policies also included a minimum benefit (usually $50-$100/month) if the Social Security Disability benefits were as much as or more than the monthly LTD benefit.

A few policies had different provisions, or special options for executives and employees in specialty fields (doctors, attorneys) but for the most part Social Security Disability was always offset.

Also bear in mind that Social Security Disability benefits are normally not taxable so even though the monthly amout of benefits may be less than the employee's pre-tax earnings, the numbers aren't as different once you factor in taxes and such. This is why, if your employer offers the option, it is always best to pay your LTD premiums with post-tax dollars. If the premiums are paid with post-tax dollars then your LTD benefits are typically not taxable.

Yes, there are provisions to offset SSDI, but typically the SSDI augments the LTD policy. If it is set up correctly she shouldn't have to repay ALL of the benefit.

 

[MELISAZACK]

wow lots of info- -I am a little confused by some of it..
we know we read right in the policy provisions if you won a SSD or WC claim and back pay was awarded - you would have to pay the policy back upto the amount they have paid out to you so far...
now ssd is less than our LTD payments so LTD will be making up the difference of the payment - so for instance instead of getting 2000.00 stright ltd now we will get 1500.00 ssd and 500 ltd.
and the last 18 months of back pay for ssd has to be paid back to the ltd.
I remember seeinging it in the agreement my DH signed when he went on LTD.
actually I don't think he was on LTD quite the full 18 months so poss we will keep a small portion of it.

 

[Lachesis00]

I don't know I will get one of them (the higher paying one) because we own 2 cars. According to SSI/DI, you can only own one car.
One is my van which will carry my electric wheelchair I am in the process of getting and one is an older car my husband uses. We are not close to a bus route or we'd sell his car.

I just hope something comes through because life has been tight since I've not been able to work

 

[MELISAZACK]

We could really use SSI too but I make to much for a family of 3 to qualify for it.. sucks -cause strapped is an understatment - after paying bills car payments car insurance and everything else we have like 100.00 a month for spending. and we have no CC debt at all so go figure.

 

[barkley]

I don't know I will get one of them (the higher paying one) because we own 2 cars. According to SSI/DI, you can only own one car.
One is my van which will carry my electric wheelchair I am in the process of getting and one is an older car my husband uses. We are not close to a bus route or we'd sell his car.

I just hope something comes through because life has been tight since I've not been able to work

the higher paying one is usualy ssd-it's the one you have to have enough quarters in the ss system to qualify for. if it's ssd there's no income/property/assett limits. ssi on the other hand because it's technicaly a 'public assistance' form of social security does have income/assett/property limits.

you might want to check and see if you have enough quarters in the system for ssd then the cars would not be an issue.

if it is ssi you are looking at you might want to ask if there are any provisions for excluding one vehical from consideration. we could do this with some other public assistance programs for reasons like a medical necessity that required one vehical to be with the disabled person at all times with the other vehical necessary for the income producing activities of their spouse.

 

[barkley]

op-it took a few weeks before my kid's share hit my account as well. you should get a letter following each deposit that details what months it covers, and when your medicare kicks in (i think it's a 2 year waiting period from initial eligibility unless it's certain diagnosis).

i went through the ltd payback too-my ltd was an employer paid benefit and that's how they set it up.

i'll suggest something-check with a cpa when you do your taxes. because social security is taxed differently (kids portion is pretty much tax free, adults they disregard something like 1/2 before it's taxable and then you have to look at what you've paid out for your share of medicare) you might be able to do an ammended return for 2008. you're going to be paying back dollar for dollar the gross amount of the ltd (if it works like mine did) so the taxes you paid for 2008 may be much more than you should have. a cpa can also look to the taxes ltd took out for 2009 and make sure you get the refund for overpaying you might be entitled to. there's also some tax rules that apply to aged/blind/disabled that because your ssd is retro to 2008 you might have qualified for but did'nt take.

i found that despite my doctor saying i was disabled, my ltd carier saying i was disabled-until social security said i was i did'nt qualify for some tax/other beneifits. having social security's approval may qualify you to other benefits you are'nt aware of so check with your insurance carier (my car insurance went down when i was deemed totaly disabled), utility cariers (phone company and some heating providers give a discount depending on your income) AND your local tax assessors (if you own a home). the deal with the tax assessors is some states have programs that exempt disabled or senior adults (they bundle them together) from certain property taxes. it can also depend on your income but it's worth a call to find out.

 

[mtdevine615]

I work for the largest disability insurance company in the country. In most of our policies SSDI is an offset (which means it will be deducted from your monthly amount). Also most policies will also offset for SSDI payments to children under the diaabled persons SSN. Take a look at your policy again to see if family SS is an offset. If you don't have a copy of your policy call your employer. Unlike what some people have said we are here to help you through this difficult time.