Help with a Social Security disability claim

Help on a social security disability claim starts before you hand over a medical history or sign a fee agreement. A few checks tell you a lot about the person on the phone. This page does not rank firms, including a partner who calls you from this site.

Do you need a representative at all?

Not always. You can apply for SSDI or SSI yourself online or by phone. Social Security will request medical records once you sign the release, and you can appeal a denial the same way.

Help starts to make sense when the file is already a denial, when you cannot gather records on your own, or when a hearing is the next step. What to do when you need to file covers the work you can do before anyone else is involved.

Who can represent you

Social Security lets you appoint a representative to complete forms, gather evidence, review your file, and appear at a hearing. The SSI help page is the plain list of those jobs. The same appointment process is used for SSDI.

The person does not have to be a lawyer. Attorneys must be licensed. Other representatives must have good character and the skill to help, and they cannot be someone Social Security has disqualified or suspended. You appoint them with Form SSA-1696. Both you and the representative sign it.

A person who only helps you fill out forms, drive to an exam, or translate is not the same as an appointed representative. An appointed representative is also not a representative payee.

How fees work

A representative who wants to charge a fee generally uses a written fee agreement, Form SSA-1693, filed before Social Security's first favorable decision. Social Security has to approve it.

The fee agreement page sets the cap. The fee cannot be more than the lesser of 25 percent of past-due benefits or the dollar limit in effect on the date of the favorable decision. That dollar limit is $9,200 for favorable decisions issued on or after November 30, 2024. A May 10, 2024 Federal Register notice (89 FR 40523) is the announcement.

The cap applies to concurrent SSDI and SSI claims together. If there are no past-due benefits, the fee-agreement process does not produce a fee. A minimum-fee clause that could push the charge above the cap is a reason Social Security will disapprove the agreement.

Out-of-pocket costs, such as paying for medical records, can sit outside the fee. Ask what those are, in writing, before you sign.

If there is no approved fee agreement, the representative generally has to file a fee petition after the work is done and wait for Social Security to authorize a reasonable amount.

How to check the person

Ask for the full name of the person who would be appointed, not only the firm name. Social Security appoints individuals. A stamp that names only a firm is not an acceptable signature on a fee agreement.

• If they are an attorney, check the bar in the state they name.
• If they are a non-attorney, ask whether they are eligible for direct payment of fees and whether Social Security has ever suspended or disqualified them.
• Ask who will actually appear at a hearing, and whether that is the same person on the SSA-1696.

Questions to ask before you sign

Ask these on the first call, and ask for the answers in writing.

• Who exactly will be appointed on my Form SSA-1696?
• Are you an attorney, and if so, in which state are you licensed?
• Will you use a fee agreement, and is the fee the lesser of 25 percent of past-due benefits or the current dollar cap?
• What costs sit outside that fee, and who pays them if the claim is denied?
• What happens if Social Security never issues past-due benefits?
• Who will request my medical records, and when?
• If this goes to a hearing, who will appear with me?
• How will you keep me updated, and how often?
• Do you need my work history and the date I last worked before you talk about the claim?

Red flags

Any one of these is a reason to slow down.

• A promise that you will be approved, or a dollar amount you will receive, before anyone has read your records. Social Security decides every claim.
• A fee that includes a minimum amount, or that could exceed 25 percent of past-due benefits or the $9,200 cap. Social Security will not approve that kind of fee agreement.
• Pressure to sign or pay today. You can file yourself at SSA.gov without appointing anyone.
• A request for your Social Security number, bank account, or a photo of a notice on this website or in a casual text. Our form never asks for those.
• A caller who claims to be Social Security, or a firm whose name and logo are made to look like a government office.
• Advice to hide work, skip a consultative exam, or ignore a notice. Deadlines on those notices are real, including the 60-day appeal clock.
• No name for the person who would be appointed, or a refusal to put the fee in writing.

A worksheet for comparing people

If you talk to more than one representative, write their answers side by side. Print this page or copy the table.

Where a call from our partner fits

If you ask for a call on this site, a partner disability representative contacts you. Use the same questions and the same worksheet with that person. The call does not hire anyone, and you can say no after you talk. The ownership page and the partner disclosure explain how the introduction works.

If you are still sorting SSDI from SSI, start with the difference between SSDI and SSI. If a denial letter is already on the table, what to do if Social Security denies the claim is the next page.