If the Social Security Administration (SSA) denies your disability claim, you have 60 days to file an appeal, plus five days to allow for mailing of the document. If you miss this deadline and still file the appeal, SSA may deny your claim because the appeal was filed late.
There are some circumstances in which SSA will accept an untimely appeal. If you have good cause for missing the deadline SSA may accept the late filing. Here are a few examples of what constitutes good cause:
- Illnesses, injuries or conditions prevented you from contacting SSA
- Conditions prevented understanding or knowing about the need to file a timely request for appeal.
- You did not receive a notice of the determination or decision
- Unusual or unavoidable circumstances prevented you from filing a timely appeal
If you miss the appeal deadline and wish to continue your claim, you must submit your good cause statement in writing to the local SSA district office handling your claim.
The SSA office will determine whether or not your reason meets the good cause standards. If the good cause is accepted you will be able to continue with your claim.
If SSA denies your good cause statement and you wish to continue to pursue a claim, you must start a new application. The good cause statement that was submitted will be considered as protective filing for your new claim, meaning that the date of the statement will be your new application date.
For more information regarding SSA’s rules on good cause, please click here.
