How long does it take to get a disability decision in Illinois?   If you speak to a claims rep at a local social security office (claims reps are the individuals who take Social Security Disability, SSI, and retirement claim applications) how long it will take to get a decision for SSDI (Social Security Disability insurance), they will typically give you an answer that reflects the current "average". And being an average, this answer will be accurate. But it will also be misleading. Why? Because while a disability claim in Illinois may take, on average, 120 days to decide, not every case does. In fact, for some claimants, a decision on a case will be received within a month (disability cases like this tend to be in the minority, of course). Other cases will take the average amount of time to process. And others will drag on for six months, eight months, ten months, and, sometimes, even longer than a year. Why do some disability cases take longer than others to arrive at a decision? There are several variables involved. However, most of the time, the amount of time it takes for the Social Security Disability process to play itself out is directly related to how long it takes the disability examiner assigned to an SSDI or SSI case to get all of the medical records together. For most disability claimants, it might be hard to believe that it could months to receive all the necessary medical records. However, this is the type of situation that disability examiners are not unaccustomed to. Resources: 1. How long does it take for Social Security Disability SSI? 2. How long does it take to get Social Security Disability or SSI benefits? 3. How long it takes to get disability 4. What determines how long it takes to get disability? For this reason,it is very important for disability claimants to do the following: 1. Provide complete information regarding medical treatment sources when applying for Social Security Disability or applying for SSI. 2. Keep the disability examiner assigned to the case updated on new treatment sources and recent dates of treatment. This should be done if the case is at the inital claim or reconsideration level. If the case has moved to the disability hearing level, a claimant should keep their disability attorney fully updated with regard to these areas. About the Author: Tim Moore is a former Social Security Disability Examiner in North Carolina, has been interviewed by the NY Times and the LA Times on the disability system, and is an Accredited Disability Representative (ADR) in North Carolina. For assistance on a disability application or Appeal in NC, click here. 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