What To Have Ready For Your Call
Have any SSA notice, key work dates and a list of treatment providers nearby before you call. Keep the list on paper. This page has no form and does not ask you for any of it.
Call with your list nearby
Call if all three are true:
- You worked in recent years.
- You stopped because of a health or medical condition.
- You're not working, not on leave and not job hunting.
No recent work of your own, or applying for SSI only? SSA can help you directly at ssa.gov.
Lines open Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Eastern.
A call does not file a claim, extend a deadline or release benefit payments.
For new or denied claims. Already receiving SSDI or SSI? Use SSA's benefit services instead.
Your checklist
- SSA notices. Any letter from SSA, especially a denial notice. Write down the date it arrived; appeal time generally runs from when you receive the notice.
- Work dates. Your recent jobs, roughly when you worked them and when you stopped. For SSDI, the work credits you need depend on your age when the disability began.
- Treatment providers. Names of the doctors, clinics and hospitals that have treated you, and how to reach them.
- Your claim stage. Not yet applied, waiting on a decision, denied, or thinking about reapplying.
Questions to ask on the call
- Who am I speaking with, and who do they work for?
- Will an attorney or other representative review my case?
- What fees or expenses could apply, and can I see the terms in writing before I agree?
- Does anything on this call file an application or an appeal for me?
Fee rules for SSA claims are on the representation fees page.
Keep private details off this website
Do not enter medical details or your Social Security number on this website. Share them only when you choose to, with someone you have decided to work with or with SSA.