How to Use a Disability Benefits Questionnaire to Your Advantage and Get Your Claim Approved

Article summary: Disability benefits questionnaires are a trick to complete which can impact the SSA’s decision to approve your claim. Princeton offers a simple solution by having you complete our simplified version of the forms in advance, so the SSA has the information they need to approve your claim on the first go around.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Receiving Your Questionnaires
• Adult Function Report (ADL) Disability Questionnaire
• Third-Party Adult Function Report
• Disability Questionnaire Processing
• How to Get Your Claim Approved

Applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a highly complicated and time-consuming process. As long as you have recently worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes on your earnings, you can apply for SSDI benefits if you suffer a disability that stops you from working.  One of the most important steps to the application is ensuring you have all the necessary information to support your claim.

Whether you are a veteran, suffered an injury, or have a serious illness, you face a rigorous assessment at the hands of the Social Security department. However, once your application is received, the SSA sends you a package of questionnaires you’ll need to fill out. Completing your disability questionnaire forms requires attention to detail because it is the information used to determine whether or not you qualify for SSDI.

Considering two-thirds of claimants are denied at the initial stage of the SSDI application process, understanding how to use your questionnaire properly is the best way to increase your odds of having to appeal. Here we offer tips to help you use your disability benefits questionnaire to your advantage to get your claim approved.

Receiving Your Questionnaires

Although you might think once you file your SSDI application your work is done, this is just the first step to a very long process. Once your application is received it is sent to a claim’s adjudicator for review. Their job is to decide whether or not your medical condition is eligible for SSDI. They won’t contact you to determine this but instead, rely on the information you provided.

To better understand how your medical conditions impact your daily life, they mail you a package of questionnaires and forms you must complete. These forms are not something to fill out quickly. Instead, you must ensure you provide as much detail as possible when answering the questions and filling out the forms. If you don’t the SSA will decide what information they think should be included, which means the odds are that information won’t do much to support your case.

SSA is notorious for mailing forms late while imposing strict deadlines on the claimant to complete them and turn them in. This adds pressure to rush through them, which often results in the forms not being filled out correctly. But it’s important to note the deadlines are not actually set in stone, and you could be given an extension with a timely request by your advocate.

The problem with this process is you need to try to determine what they are looking for from their questions. Unfortunately, that is not always clear. This reduces your chances of your application being accepted. A disability advocate like Princeton can ensure your forms are complete properly to avoid delays or rejection.

Adult Function Report (ADL) Disability Questionnaire

The ADL is the questionnaire that helps the adjudicator decide whether or not your condition impacts your ability to work and your daily living. This form has 22 questions designed to reveal your true condition. Since the SSA wants to avoid fraudulent claims, they don’t make it easy to know how you should answer.

So, while the questions might seem innocent and simple, they are designed to see if you can actually cope enough to work. It includes everything from whether you do yard work to how you shave. This is a nerve-wracking process because you know that your answers can make or break your eligibility. That is why it is so important to avoid going through this process alone.

Instead, working with a disability advocate will ensure you answer the questions avoiding terms the SSA specifically looks for to prove your disability is not stopping you from performing day-to-day physical activities. From caring for pets to preparing meals and from the level of complication of the meals you prepare to how long you spend shopping, you are being grilled on your abilities to try to prove you aren’t eligible. Of course, you always must answer honestly, but with care to ensure consistency and accuracy about your ability to function.

Third-Party Adult Function Report

Adding to the challenge of the process, the SSA might also decide to send questionnaires to friends and family. This helps collect further proof of your level of function in your day-to-day life. This is an eight-page form filled out by people you have named and are familiar with your condition. The questions aren’t much different than those on your form. This form is often used in cases where there are cognitive disabilities alleged or when it may be difficult for the claimant to complete a form on their own.

Disability Questionnaire Processing

Once you submit the forms the examiner considers your initial application with all medical records provided, as well as your work history in hand with the new information on the questionnaires. With all the information available, they decide whether you qualify for SSDI. Because this is your last swing at-bat, being as thorough, consistent and honest as possible is extremely important. Otherwise, you might miss your chance to qualify and have to appeal your claim decision.

How to Get Your Claim Approved

Princeton Disability understands the challenges the questionnaire process presents. Our experience told us we needed to come up with a way to stay ahead of this conversation. Because the agency does not require you to submit this information on their application forms, it makes it far too easy for them to delay the process by asking more questions or denying your claim. Our experienced advocates know this information is required and use our own version of these forms to allow you to provide the information from the very beginning. This unique process allows you to avoid delays by:

• Having you fill out the forms from the initial stage before the agency sends them to you
• Making the forms easier to understand so we gather the information needed and present it in a way that outlines why you are unable to work as a result of your condition
• Avoiding tricky wording on the questions that can make it difficult for you to know how to answer
• Including pertinent information regarding work history, the SSA needs but does not request, saving time in the approval process

By working with Princeton, you avoid the delays caused by waiting for the SSA to send the forms, filling them out, and possibly answering incorrectly causing further delays or rejection. For more information on how we can help get your claim approved, speak to our team today.