The Social Security Administration, through its Commissioner Martin O’Malley, unveiled the current average wait times. SSDI applicants can be affected by the time a decision takes.
In general, the waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance is of 5 months. This waiting period is before SSA can begin to send your disability benefits. In fact, they will usually pay your first SSDI check or direct deposit the 6th full month after the date they find your disability started.
SSDI’s current average wait time for an initial decision
Nowadays, as of September 2024, the wait time for an initial Disability decision is 236 days. Bear in mind that SSA’s goal is to sort it out in 5 months, which is about 150-153 days.
As you can see, there is a considerable delay. Sometimes recipients with the lowest income cannot put up with this delay. Therefore, they need to rely on other Federal or State financial support like SNAP benefits.
Unfortunately, initial Disability decision wait time has gone up, compared to the previous fiscal year. Apparently, wait times have increased by 15 days from the same time last fiscal year.
Other wait times that may also affect SSDI applicants and recipients
If you need to use Social Security’s national 800 number, you may have to wait for up to 24 minutes. The good news is the fact that this figure has gone down. So, it is 20 minutes faster from the same time last fiscal year.
For a Disability reconsideration decision, an SSDI applicant may need to wait for up to 233. Which is very similar to the one for an initial decision. The increase in the wait time is even worse, 26 days longer.
Hearing decisions can also take a great deal of time for SSDI applicants. In total, it could be 322 days. Even if it seems to be a really long wait time, it has decreased. It is 132 days faster than in the last fiscal year.