The five month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) means that you cannot collect SSDI benefits until you have been disabled for 5 complete months.
The main reason for the five month waiting period is to help ensure that only people with long term disabilities will apply for SSDI.
If your initial application for disability is approved, then you will not start receiving benefits until it has been 5 complete months since the onset of your disability.
For most people, the Social Security Disability application process takes well over 5 months, so as soon as you are approved, you can start receiving benefits. In fact, once you are approved for disability, you may also get some back pay for the months leading up to your “approved” date. All the months that you were disabled, after the 5 month waiting period and before your application for disability was approved, will be paid to you in one lump sum. So, if you were approved 10 months after becoming disabled, you will get 5 months of back pay. The maximum number of months that you can receive back pay is 12 months prior to your initial application for disability. So, for you to get the maximum amount of back pay, your disability onset date needs to be 17 months or more prior to the date of your initial application.
For Supplemental Security Income (SSI), there is not a 5 month waiting period; however, your back pay is for all the past months starting when you first applied for SSI on your current claim.
For experienced legal representation and an aggressive pursuit of your SSDI or SSI claims, contact Jorgensen Law with offices in San Diego, Los Angeles or Riverside, California. For assistance, schedule a free consultation at our office by email or by calling 866.587.9176.
Representing SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY and SSI claims in the following counties and cities: San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Riverside, and the Inland Empire. In San Diego, we specifically work with Fallbrook, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, El Cajon, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, La Jolla, Lemon Grove, National City, Spring Valley, Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, San Diego, San Marcos, Santee, Ramona, Murrieta, Moreno Valley, corona, San Bernardino, Fontana, Ontario, and Imperial Valley.