Finally WON!

[waggytalk]

Finally after 6+ years. a bad attorney and a bunch of BS we finally win!

We been waiting for the ADJ hearing. but today about a few hours ago my attorney got a call from the judge. He offered a me a "deal".

they would would find me disabled. BUT they would not go back to when i was claiming. we were hoping to have them go back to 2000. But he offered to back until June of 2003.

not as good as i was hoping but good enough.

my attorney is going to fax the acceptance tomorrow. then starts that part rolling. hopefully it goes fast.

ANYWAY I WON! WOOT!

[Wink]

Waggytalk~
I'm very happy for you. It must have been such a burden for you having to wait for so long. Take care. :)

[brians2000]

I love to read post from people who won, especially from people who are truly disabled. Keep us informed. Brian

[Aeryn]

That is wonderful news! Even though you compromised on the dates, I am sure it mustr feel wonderful to know that you can relax now and get some relief from having to go through the **** of the process.

My own hearing comes up soon also after 3 years and at this point I just want it to go well with the alj so I can get on with my life.

I hope you celebrate this truly wonderful win!

[waggytalk]

thanks guys.


just wish they would hurry up with the back pay. my wife's car is about to die, my TV died (NOOO! have to watch the bears win the superbowl on a 19inch tv). and got a ton of other bills to pay.

just glad its done well almost done.

[suede]

CONGRATS WAGGYTALK !!!

I can sure relate, I had my hearing the 11th and finally got the ALJ approval, talk about a sigh of relief..
I got mine through also by agreeing to changing my onset date, it cost me a couple of yrs back pay but I had 4 + yrs of waiting in, and then I didn't have to testify either.
My hearing was set up to be a video conference and everyone in the waiting area could hear what was being said in the hearing, talk about embarrassing, I would have said what I had to but sire wouldn't have liked it knowing so many could hear some of my most private business.
I haven't got my approval papers yet, the judge promised with in 30 days.
I know that we have kept our head above water as long as we can, we had my small WC settlement and then remortgaged and refinanced and tool out loans and now it's time to pay up!!
Anyway I can hear the sigh of relief, I know everyone in the waiting area heard mine..
Linda

[waggytalk]

man wife called the lawyer today. she said we should have a letter in 2-4 weeks. then it goes to payment center and its another 4-6 weeks.

sigh its amazing how fricken slow they are. but shouldnt be shocked. it has taken years to get this far.

[anticourier]

That is alot of money that you are giving up. I guess thats what they hope is that you get so desperate that you jump at the offer. Was your lawyer totally for the offer? Well congradulations anyway..Bobby

[waggytalk]

That is alot of money that you are giving up. I guess thats what they hope is that you get so desperate that you jump at the offer. Was your lawyer totally for the offer? Well congradulations anyway..Bobby

yeah he is.

while it is a lot of money. it is more then i am bringing in now. we have bills to pay. cars to fix. and children to raise.

[anticourier]

Yes I understand how desperate one can get. I am just saying that they know this and take advantage of it. Good luck and glad you will not have to worry quite as much...Bobby

[HeyJoe]

I think you are correct anticourier, though the ALJ I had, who was very fair said that there was not enough medical evidence until the later date. If you dont agree to change the date, you have to appeal the date and then may be denied. I had to give up 7 months which was a lot of money, but better to have what you can than to wait and face an uncertain outcome.

[waggytalk]

Yes I understand how desperate one can get. I am just saying that they know this and take advantage of it. Good luck and glad you will not have to worry quite as much...Bobby

oh yeah i agree the do take advantage of it. me and my wife were talking about it last night.

I filled in 2000 and the doctor at the time said i should get it. I tried going to department of rehabilitation (supposed to get disabled people jobs etc) and they said there was nothing they could do. they could not find a job for me since i had so many medical limitations.

i feel if i didn't have such a bad attorney for when i went to ADJ (like 4 years ago) i would have had it.

I can see the judge not wanting to pay out nearly 7 years of back pay (though it would be nice! heh nearly pay off my house). And knowing we are in a difficult situation offering us over half of it we would go for it.

I wonder how many times they do this? if it was less then half of my back pay i would have continued to fight it. but nearly 75% of it i will take a loss.

but man the hoops and bull crap you have to put up with to get SSDI is amazing. it should not take 3+ years to get it. The system really needs to be re-done.

[winchester]

Only out of curiosity and perhaps this might help others, what was the reason given by the Judge not to go back to 2000? Was there a legitimate reason or were they seriously splitting the difference. I had stated my date of disability as the date my doctors said I couldn't go back to work, but to my surprise, the Judge started my date of disability to the very day of my car accident, which was 3 months before. So I actually received an extra 3 months benefit! That was a very fair Judge, I certainly would not have thought anything different had they approved me with my original date of disability.

[waggytalk]

Only out of curiosity and perhaps this might help others, what was the reason given by the Judge not to go back to 2000? Was there a legitimate reason or were they seriously splitting the difference. I had stated my date of disability as the date my doctors said I couldn't go back to work, but to my surprise, the Judge started my date of disability to the very day of my car accident, which was 3 months before. So I actually received an extra 3 months benefit! That was a very fair Judge, I certainly would not have thought anything different had they approved me with my original date of disability.

the lawyer didnt give me a reason. I soppose i should have asked him but to tell the truth i didn't care. i was just happy to get a favorable decision.

[suede]

Winchester, I'm curious as to how long it tool you to win your case and how many months back pay you had comming?
I wonder if the amount of back pay due to one has anything to do with them changing the onset date.

I know the judge asked me if I would change my onset date from June to October of 2003 as I turned 50 in Oct. and she said that by changing to when I turned 50 would help to speed the process, it also had to do with me going back and trtying to work after my orginal injury.

Linda

[winchester]

Suede, I suppose they changed your onset date because you had tried to go back to work, but I actually also worked abit after my accident until I was told not to. That date I stated as my onset date, I didn't want to confuse things because I did work after my accident and it didn't work out. But to my surprise, the judge ignored the fact I had tried to work and set my date as the date of my accident. Here's my timeline. I had my accident March 03, I stopped working June 03. I received state disability for a year, when It was about finished, the state recommended I apply for SSDI, which I thought was impossible to get. I applied in May 04. I was denied in July 04. But during that time, my diagnosis was being confirmed and there were important results from MRI's and so forth that were never considered by the SSA. In my denial, they said that in my state, they no longer had a reconsideration stage but that I would have to go to the ALJ for a hearing. I hired a national law firm who barely got my application in for an ALJ Hearing. I was told to hang loose for about a year because it took a very long time. In the meantime, I took it upon myself to gather as much evidence as possible, and it was stacking up. In May of 05, my Congressman sent an inquiry to the OHA on my behalf to check on the status of my case. A week later, the OHA notified my Congressman that a decision had been made concerning my case. I hadn't had a hearing yet, so I was confused. I received a notice from SSA that a decision had been made and my case had been sent for underwriting, that was the end of May 05. Soon after, I received the notice of a fully favorable decision made by the Judge, without me having to go to a hearing. He had reviewed my file in advance and a hearing was never scheduled. I was approved all the way back to my accident in Mar 03. I received my backpay and the kids backpay by Sept 05. The only hitch was the direct deposit for my back pay. The SSA had the numbers reversed on my account, so the kids got theirs a month sooner than I. So I guess now you can do the math and figure it out. From the time of my first application, it was almost exactly one year from start to finish, which isn't bad. But I didn't apply until I had been disabled for almost a year. I don't know if this long story helped you or anyone else. But I know there is someone else here sometimes that had almost the exact same time frame as me. I had posted here alot and then when the site went down, I had to start all over.

[suede]

Winchester, Thanks for the info, I have long given up trying to make sense of why any of this goes the way it does.
I just have my fingers crossed that since I did agree to the on set date being changed they won't now try to find a way to take even more of the back pay.
We have only managed to live this far by a thin thread and I'm praying it doesn't snap..
Linda

[winchester]

If I had been given what you got which was a partially favorable decision, I seriously doubt I would have questioned it. I would have asked why the change of date, but no way would I have fought it. From what I understand, if you don't accept their offer, you have to start all over and risk a denial all over again, forget that!

[suzq]

I have been visiting this board for some time and was finally able to log on: my story-neurological disorder, tremor as in Parkins, rheumo arth, diab, and latex allergy.
Took one denial, and two years of appeal and did accept plea deal back one and a half years to my 55th b'day. Its a common way of settling cases and saving the govt money. If I chose to appeal, my lawyer told me it could take years again. It wasn't worth the money and anxiety.
I should get my first check in feb. and am just glat to have this over.
I was a national board cert orthodontic asst for 27 years and suddenly I had no control over my movements-poor pts.
I can certainly understand the frustrations of all you folks who log in, I thought I was all alone, guess I;m not Suzq

[suede]

Winchester, Yea when the ALJ made the offer my attorney just looked over at me and nodded like just say yes, I can tell you I had no intentions of arguing it, I was just so happy to finally be getting the hearing and moving on and wasn't going to rock the boat..
Actually after thinking about it I remember something being said about her favoring the decision if I agreed to the change and I wouldn't have to testify..
I actually got the letter of a fully favorable decision today, she promised I'd have it with in 30 days and it's only been 20 so maybe it's a good sign..

suzq, I'm glad you were able to finally get logged in and able to post, looking forward to seeing more of your post.

Linda

[waggytalk]

Winchester, Yea when the ALJ made the offer my attorney just looked over at me and nodded like just say yes, I can tell you I had no intentions of arguing it, I was just so happy to finally be getting the hearing and moving on and wasn't going to rock the boat..
Actually after thinking about it I remember something being said about her favoring the decision if I agreed to the change and I wouldn't have to testify..
I actually got the letter of a fully favorable decision today, she promised I'd have it with in 30 days and it's only been 20 so maybe it's a good sign..

suzq, I'm glad you were able to finally get logged in and able to post, looking forward to seeing more of your post.

Linda


heh when my attorney called me to let me know about the offer. i was willing to say yes pretty fast. but he continued talking and trying to get me to take it. if he would have shut up for 5 minutes i would have told him to take it.

i just couldnt see fighting for another year or more. just was not worth it. sure i would have won. but the stress on me and my wife was not worth it. though i could use the extra back pay.

just thankful i won. just wish i had the money. got a lot of stuff i need to do with it heh

[suzq]

this is a really helpful sight, I was just told after many calls that my lump sum back pay is being held up because originally in 04 I applied for ssi, my circumstances have changed since (marriage) and I am not eligible but my withdrawal is held up on someone's desk somewhere. None of this is easy but my decision was fully favorable so I should be happy. Happy??? my hands are all deformed, my balance is awful, and I shake like a junkie and I miss my profession. I get weird looks buying a simple bottle of wine. We all have problems or else we wouldn't be here-nice to have the company Suzq

[suede]

waggytalk, I felt the same way about my WC claim, I fought and fought and finally settled, I could not take the emotional stress any longer, huh if I had stayed and fought things would be a lot different as the claim settled for a strain/sprain, almost laughable, thing is that little bit of a settlement along with all the loans etc. help to keep us from losing everything while waiting for my SSD.
There is no way my back pay will get us out of debt that my disability has caused but it will sure make breathing a whole heck of a lot easier, and maybe I'll be able to answer the phone once again with out waiting for the machine to pick up.

Suzq, it sure is a double sword isn't it to win, after fighting so long and so hard to get our SS only to be labeled disabled!!
Not something I didn't already know, it's kind of like the war is over and the real dilemma sit in.
Linda

[waggytalk]

waggytalk, I felt the same way about my WC claim, I fought and fought and finally settled, I could not take the emotional stress any longer, huh if I had stayed and fought things would be a lot different as the claim settled for a strain/sprain, almost laughable, thing is that little bit of a settlement along with all the loans etc. help to keep us from losing everything while waiting for my SSD.
There is no way my back pay will get us out of debt that my disability has caused but it will sure make breathing a whole heck of a lot easier, and maybe I'll be able to answer the phone once again with out waiting for the machine to pick up.

Suzq, it sure is a double sword isn't it to win, after fighting so long and so hard to get our SS only to be labeled disabled!!
Not something I didn't already know, it's kind of like the war is over and the real dilemma sit in.
Linda


i came to grips that i am disabled and have had to give up some stuff i used to enjoy.

what bugs me is that when i get the paperwork from the judge i can get more help from the goverment and other agency's. pretty silly if you ask me.