Online Services Available for Social Security Disability Applicants

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced the agency is expanding the services available with a Social Security account. This is a personalized online account that people can use beginning in their working years and continuing throughout the time they receive Social Security benefits. More than 60 million Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients can now access their benefit verification letter, payment history, and earnings record instantly using their online account. Social Security beneficiaries also can change their address and start or change direct deposit information online.

Greeman Toomey often receives calls inquiring as to the status of an ongoing Social Security Disability claim. Obtaining log-in information to provide yourself with online access is very beneficial to track the status of your current claim. The Social Security Administration often fails to notify the claimant of the current status of the claim unless an applicant calls Social Security Administration directly. As we are all aware, waiting on the phone for more than twenty minutes at a time is a time consuming and frustrating process. To avoid this, contact the Social Security Administration to obtain log-in information regarding your claim. With this you are able to quickly and efficiently access your information online without the hassle of contacting Social Security directly each time you have a question.

Social Security processed nearly nine million requests for benefit verification letters in the past year.  This new online service allows people to conduct business with Social Security without having to visit an office or make a phone call, and very often wait for a letter to arrive in the mail.  It also will reduce the time spent by employees completing these requests and free them to focus on other workloads. People age 18 and older can sign up for an account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount. Once there, they must be able to provide information about themselves and answers to questions that only they are likely to know.  After completing the secure verification process, people can create a “my Social Security account” with a unique user name and password to access their information.