How Far Back Can I Receive Back Payment?

When you are awarded disability benefits by Social Security you will receive a set amount of money each month for as long as Social Security considers you to be disabled. Those who are receiving SSD benefits receive an amount of money each month based on their work earnings record and those receiving SSI benefits receive an amount equal to the maximum amount allowed by Social Security minus set amounts for income or resources.

If you apply for Supplemental Security Income benefits today, then today is the first day that you could possibly receive any back payment once you are awarded. So, if you apply for SSI on December 1, 2011 and you are found to be disabled by Social Security on June 1, 2012 you will receive a check for those months while you waited for your case to be decided. In this example, if Social Security determines that your onset date was December 1, 2011 and you meet the other criteria that the SSI program has (financial component), then you will receive back payment for six months. You will not receive back payment for any months that you do not meet the financial criteria for SSI. Since you first applied for SSI on December 1, 2011 that is the earliest month that you could receive benefits for. This is the case even if your disability began in December, 2008.

It is not as straight forward for those who are applying for SSD. If you have applied for SSD, Social Security allows you to receive retroactive payment for up to twelve months prior to the date that you filed your SSD application (assuming you can prove you were disabled that far back). However, Social Security regulations require that the first five months that you are considered disabled you do not receive any retroactive pay, there is a waiting period.

Using the same dates as above, assume that someone has been disabled since December 1, 2008 but does not apply for SSD until December 1, 2011. If Social Security agrees that the person's onset date is December 1, 2008 it is possible for the applicant to receive retroactive benefits from December 1, 2010 (one year before the initial application was filed). In this situation, the applicant does not lose five months of payment, because their onset date was more than five months before the person was first eligible to receive retroactive back payment.

In both examples you can see why it is very important to file for benefits with Social Security as soon as you know that you are expected to be out of work for at least a year.

This is a complex topic and can be even more confusing if you are applying for both SSD and SSI at the same time.

Onset dates can be a confusing but important issue in any Social Security disability case.