wardharper

2011 Report and the 99%

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is a review of my Social Security disability and SSI cases for the year 2011. We won 131 cases last year and lost none. We have six more cases on appeal with the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration after unfavorable decisions by administrative law judges, increasing the total number of cases there awaiting decision to eight. We have no current appeals in Federal Court. So, our record remains at over 99% since I started keeping track of these statistics over 10 years ago.

Long Term Disability Insurance Benefits

2011-11-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

These are benefits you may have obtained through your employer. It is basically a contract between you and the insurance company. You (or your employer) pay premiums, and you are entitled to benefits if you become "disabled" (the standards may not be the same as Social Security). If you want to know your rights, you need to go to the contract. It's provisions will almost always be included in an employee manual. The law regarding these benefits is governmed by a federal statute called ERISA. You need an experienced attorney to deal with these matters. We can give you a referral to such an attorney and assist him in providing information about your Social Security case. DO NOT believe that the insurance case worker is most concerned about you, and DO NOT accept a referral to one of their advocates for your Social Security case. The advocate may be more concerned about his relationship to the insurance company than about you.

Workers Compensation Benefits

2011-11-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

If you have previously been entitled to workers compensation benefits, we may be able to obtain further benefits once your Social Security case is won. However, disability must be "caused" by your injury. (What is a cause is legally complicated.) The injury may have been 20 years ago, if you reported it to the Labor Commission. DO NOT sign a settlement agreement with the insurance company without legal counsel. You may be signing away all your future rights and benefits.

Why hire a local attorney?

2011-11-16T05:11:00.000-08:00

We have seen a proliferation of national firms taking Social Security cases. Are they better than a local attorney? The answer is no. An attorney who practices locally knows the judges with whom he is dealing. All judges have different ideas about the law and about different kinds of evidence. Second, if your local attorney has done a good job in the past, he has a good reputation with the judges. It is a sad fact that all the national firms have terrible reputations with judges. They will typically send a junior attorney or paralegal out the day of your case, who will meet with you for the first time at the hearing. I have heard of many cases where they did not even have the medical file. When you call their offices, you will never talk to the same person twice. They typically hire a bunch of low-wage unskilled employees to answer their phones. It is a racket. And they charge the same fees.

Is the disability trust fund solvent?

2011-08-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

We have been seeing news reports that claim that the disability fund will be insolvent by 2017, while the general fund will be insolvent by 2027. This is highly misleading. First, the amount allocated to disability is corrected regularly. The last time they allocated, they underestimated the amount of disability that would be currently paid. But second, the fund is not a piggy bank. "Insolvent" means that at that point the money coming in from FICA taxes will no longer exceed the amount being paid out. If that happens, the government can run another deficit, or the problem can be easily fixed by raising the retirement age, raising taxes, limiting benefits in other ways like means-testing, etc. We face far bigger problems with Medicare costs.

2010 Results

2011-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

In 2010, up through the administrative law judge hearing, I won 110 cases and lost only 2. Those two cases are on appeal to the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration.

You should have hired an atttorney be the time you have a hearing. I would suggest hiring one much earlier. It should be obvious that the attorney needs to have experience with Social Security law and with the Utah judges. The attorney should practice regularly before the judges who will hear your case. All the judges are different. If your attorney does not know how the judge thinks, he cannot do as good as job as one who does. Because of this fact, you should not hire a national firm. There are various firms that advertise on tv or have misleading websites that pretend to be government sites. Many of them do not even have attorneys representing their clients because it is cheaper to hire someone else. Hire the best. It won't cost you any more money because any reputable attorney charges a standard fee of 25% of past-due benefits or $6000, whichever is less.

Veterans Benefits

2010-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

I am an accredited VA attorney and handle a few claims, if I am also the SS rep. You must have a Notice of Decision regarding the degree to which you are impaired (e.g. 40%), which is dated after June 2007. The attorney fee in VA cases is also contingent; you pay nothing unless we are successful. Then the fee is 20% of past-due benefits.

Do I have to repay my insurance company?

2010-10-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Most people who have long term disability insurance from a private company have signed a contract to repay any past-due Social Security benefits they obtain. It is true that you may have a legal obligation to repay. And the company may be able to get a judgment against you in court if you do not repay. However, Social Security benefits can only be garnished for debts you owe the federal government or for past-due child support. Not for what you owe a private insurance company. So even though there is a judgment against you, they may not be able to get their money. You cannot squeeze blood from a turnip.

One lesson here is DO NOT BELIEVE what the person working for the insurance company tells you. What they say may very well be in the interests of your insurance company, not your interests.

Allsup Inc.

2010-10-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is a national company that advertises great success in representation. Do not believe what they say. The representatives are not attorneys. They do not know the judges. And they may be in collusion with your Long Term Disabilty insurance company to take your money. Google Robbery Without a Gun or click on this link.