Applying for Disability in Oxford, North Carolina

by Tim Moore. Free Case Evaluation here.

If you live in Oxford, NC, in Granville County, and need to file for disability, this should be done through the Henderson Social Security office. You can file online, but we recommend against doing this.

Why? Because it removes your ability to have a Social Security employee available to ask questions and receive answers from.

Note: if you need help with a disability claim, contact us at 919-890-8519.

To start your claim for either Social Security Disability or SSI, contact the Henderson office at the following address:

Social Security Administration
858 S Beckford Dr, Henderson, NC 27536
(877) 628-6584

If we, as your disability representative, represent your claim for you, we will contact the Henderson Social Security office on your behalf and obtain an appointment for a disability application interview to be done by phone. At the designated date and time, Social Security will call you and ask you about the following information:

1. When did your disability begin?
2. When did you stop working?
3. What are you physical and/or medical impairments?
4. How do your impairments affect you?
5. Who are your medical providers and when were you last seen?
6. A list of your current medications

As you can see, the focus is primarily on your medical conditions and medical treatment. First this reason, we advise our clients in Oxford and Henderson to write down their medical providers, medications, and work history before the phone interview date so that it will make the experience less stressful, but also less likely to leave out important information.

After your claim is started

After your claim is started, your claim will be sent to the Disability Determination Services, or DDS, agency in Raleigh where it will be assigned to a disability examiner. The examiner will order your medical records and this highlights why it is important to think of all the places you have received treatment from, as well as the dates of treatment. The dates are important because it will help the examiner to establish when your disability actually began. And this can have an impact on whether you get approved for disability, but also how much you may receive in back pay, and how soon you may be eligible for medicare if your claim is for Social Security Disability benefits.

How long will it take to get a decision?

Usually, you can expect to get a decision in three to four months. If the case is denied, you have 60 days to file the request for reconsideration appeal. Our office has the policy of not waiting to file your appeal. If we are notified that you are denied, we file the appeal as quickly as possible so that your case is not slowed down.

If your reconsideration appeal is also denied, we then request a hearing before a Social Security Administrative Law Judge in Raleigh. It can several months to get the hearing scheduled, but as we get closer to that time, we will secure your most up-to-date medical records and attempt to get supporting statements from your doctors. We will also review all the evidence including your work history so that we can develop a winning argument, according to Social Security law, for getting your benefits approved.

If you go to a disability hearing

On the day of the hearing, you (and us if we represent you) will appear at the scheduled time. The judge may ask you questions, allow your representative to ask questions, and may also have a vocational expert present to testify about your ability to return to work.

Obviously, preparation for the hearing is very important and goes beyond simply getting medical records. How you respond to questions from the judge can impact the quality of your testimony. Your goal is to be completely truthful in your answers, but also to provide the information in your answers that the judge actually needs from you. And this can be difficult for someone who is not accustomed to being questioned in a hearing setting, which is why representation can be very important.