How would you feel if you found out that you couldn’t get Social Security Benefits because someone has claimed that you’re already receiving workers’ compensation in Ohio? The two shouldn’t be exclusive, but in this woman’s case, she was denied for her Social Security Disability benefits because the office believed she was getting reparations from workers’ comp. According to the April 2 report, the woman visited the Social Security Administration office to ask why her Social Security Benefits weren’t arriving on the fourth Wednesday of the month as usual.
According to her report, they told her that her benefits had stopped because she was receiving payments from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. When this alleged miscommunication took place, she claimed that she tried to clear it up. She allegedly gave the SSA a note from the Workers’ Compensation department stating that she wasn’t receiving any money, but that was not accepted by the SSA, according to her reports.
When the woman couldn’t get anywhere with the agency, she turned to a news source to get a response. The news got involved by contacting the SSA on her behalf and found out that a review was already taking place into the situation. The Social Security Administration office claimed that the woman had in fact been given workers’ compensation benefits before she tried to be entered into the SSA system with her claim.
Because of this, the Social Security Disability had been awarded, but the previous code for workers’ compensation had not been deleted. This is a system error, not one on the part of the woman. Fortunately, this woman was able to access a retroactive deposit of over $4,500 and the change was processed, so she shouldn’t have trouble in the future. This just goes to show that sometimes, representation helps you get further faster.
Dayton Daily News, “Woman’s Social Security Disability benefits restored” No author given, Apr. 02, 2014