For those disabled individuals who do not have a recent work history, they will likely be paid Supplemental Security Income (SSI) if they are found disabled. The rules for financial eligibility for SSI are very strict, and in Oregon, the most an eligible individual can currently receive each month is $733.
It is also important to know that if you are owed a large amount of SSI backpay, you will probably see this backpay doled out in three installments.
After approval for SSI at the hearing level, Social Security will once again review your financial situation in a resource meeting. After the resource meeting, you will receive a letter called a Notice of Award. This spells out how much SSI you were entitled to month-by-month.
If you are entitled to backpay worth more than 3 months worth of benefits (currently $2199) Social Security is required break your back benefits into installments that are paid six months apart.
The first installment will likely come within a few months of the notice of award and will typically be for the equivalent of 3 months of benefits. The second installment will follow six months later and will also be the equivalent of 3 months of benefits. The final installment will be paid 12 months after the first installment and will include any balance owed.
Here’s how this would work for a fictional client of mine, Amy.
Amy put in an application for SSI in February 2013. She was approved by an ALJ in February 2015 and got a notice of award in her case in April 2015. She was awarded backpay from March 2013 (the month following her application) through April 2015.
Amy’s backpay totaled $18,697, of which 25% was paid automatically to my firm for our work on her case. This left $14013 for Amy, which Social Security broke into the following three payments:
- $2199 paid in May 2015;
- $2199 paid in November 2015;
- $9615 paid in May 2015.