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In this video and article, disability insurance attorneys Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup answer the question: What is the Difference Between a Disability Insurance Lawyer & a Social Security Disability Lawyer?<\/strong><\/p>\n To answer this question, the attorneys explain:<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: Hi, I\u2019m Greg Dell with attorneys Dell & Schaefer. And today, I\u2019m here with attorney Steven Jessup. And we\u2019re going to talk about something that\u2019s a very common misconception in the world of disability attorneys. And what we\u2019re going to address is what is the difference between a disability insurance attorney and a Social Security disability attorney?<\/p>\n Now, Steve, let\u2019s dive into this in the sense because they are two completely different animals in the sense of a Social Security disability claim and a disability insurance claim. So let\u2019s first talk about the differences between the two different types of policies. Then I think that in itself will evolve in to see why you need an attorney who really focuses in disability insurance claims, which is what we do, versus the different types of lawyers that do Social Security disability work.<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: So there are two types. Social Security is through the federal government. So that\u2019s going to be based upon your work earnings, if you have sufficient credits in the system to be eligible. And then private disability is typically through what\u2019s provided through your employer. The laws that govern them, the rules, everything are completely different.<\/p>\n Social Security has this idea of an any occupation standard from the get go. Can you do any job? Age is a huge factor for them. The younger you are, the harder it is to get.<\/p>\n Whereas an employer-provided policy is usually through a major insurance company. It\u2019s going to have protection from being able to do your own job typically. And it doesn\u2019t matter what age you are. If you\u2019re covered under the policy, you\u2019re covered to be able to make an application for benefits.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: All right, so the easiest most general way looking in the outside is you\u2019re talking public sector, Social Security disability benefits, private sector, disability insurance benefits. I mean, dealing with private companies versus dealing with the government, completely different animals, very different definitions of disability and also tremendously different time frames in terms of when you\u2019re eligible. The Social Security being a statutory government-type benefit, and disability insurance being like a contract or a\u2013 it\u2019s basically a contract, whether it\u2019s a private policy or employer-provided, but how you go about if your rights are violated are different.<\/p>\n Now, another gigantic difference\u2013 just to show the volume of these types of claims\u2013 there are over 3 million people a year that apply for Social Security disability benefits, of which they say that maybe 10% or 15% get approved initially. There\u2019s approximately, from what\u2019s reported, 160,000 people a year that apply for private disability, employer-provided disability benefits. So this is not even in the same league, very niche. Most of the lawyers who do the Social Security disability work, who we refer lots of cases to-<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: That\u2019s what they do.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: \u2013that\u2019s what they do, very high-volume practice. In our world of the private disability-type claims, very small, very limited case volume, tremendously more time involved, totally different requirements in order to get reprove. So let\u2019s talk about though the importance of having a private disability lawyer and understanding ERISA and understanding this private world versus the Social Security, which is not really anywhere near as complex, even though it\u2019s specific unto itself. But why should I have an attorney who\u2019s really focused on the disability insurance side of handling these claims?<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: It really comes down to experience and understanding. It\u2019s very niche area of the law. Some Social Security attorneys will dabble with it, try to help. But like you said, Social Security has certain criteria. Even when you read award letters, the judge goes through certain things. It\u2019s like form language of what they need to do.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s a very streamline, albeit very slow process. Whereas, on the private disability side, you are dealing with deadlines that are much sooner in time. Your legal rights are viewed completely differently.<\/p>\n I mean, in Social Security, you get to a point where you can at least have a hearing in front of a judge. If you end up in court in an ERISA employer-provided policy, you\u2019re in federal court. You don\u2019t testify. Your doctors don\u2019t testify.<\/p>\n So the specialty that comes with the private disability side of it is so much different than the Social Security. It\u2019s one of those things that even attorneys we\u2019ve had refer cases to us after they started doing the work on it be like, this is so out of my wheelhouse. I tried to help this person, but they need to be with someone who really knows how to deal with what an insurance company is going to be looking for in order to prove your claim.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: Also, the Social Security, when a claim gets denied, it goes to a hearing officer. That\u2019s not even an attorney. Whereas, in our situations, when your claim gets denied in a private disability, you first have to do an appeal, which goes back to the company, which is a mandatory requirement.<\/p>\n And Social Security, you\u2019re appealing to\u2013 I don\u2019t know who it is\u2013 a Social Security hearing officer. You can have an advocate that helps you. It doesn\u2019t have to be a lawyer. Although in the private disability side, you can do an appeal on your own; although, we don\u2019t recommend that. And we\u2019ve done tons of videos to discuss how we can help you with an appeal and all the stuff that\u2019s at stake in an appeal.<\/p>\n But in Social Security, you can just go ahead and have one of these advocates or do your own appeal. Of course, if a Social Security appeal is denied, they have a whole different type of system where then eventually, you\u2019ll end up in federal court. But on the private side, if a claim\u2019s denied, you end up in federal court with a federal judge, which is like the big leagues of disability claim for things being reviewed. The other thing that\u2019s different is the Social Security disability lawyers have to run at such a high volume in order to make money. And many of them work with non-lawyers as well that they just don\u2019t have the time to put into what\u2019s involved in a private disability claim\u2013<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: That\u2019s very true.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: \u2013and talk about how much time we put into our client\u2019s claims in terms of working with them to help prove their disability.<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: I mean, going up to the point of litigation and lawsuits when we\u2019re compiling for attorney fees awards, hundreds of hours can go into one single case. The appeal process in and of itself, they\u2019re giving you 180 days to do an appeal. It\u2019s not uncommon after everything\u2019s done, the additional medical tests, and we want the drafting, you\u2019re talking like 30- 40- 50-page documents at time, in addition to the exhibits.<\/p>\n So each case, there\u2019s so much that goes into it. And when people appeal on their own imitative, the Social Security, and they lose, a lot of times, that lawyer can get involved. And they\u2019re going to have their hearing, new evidence will be presented.<\/p>\n If you do your appeal on your own and you lose, no new information is coming in for an attorney when filing a lawsuit to be able to argue on your behalf. So it\u2019s a matter of setting you up for success in it. And also, your private disability policy is almost certainly going to pay more than Social Security will. So there\u2019s a bigger amount of money to be had there, so the stakes are higher.<\/p>\n The government is slow and overburdened with the sheer amount of cases, like you said. Where the private company\u2019s concern is we\u2019re going to be losing money because we\u2019re paying as opposed to collecting premiums. So they have an incentive to really challenge every case that comes across their desk.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: The other thing is with the thousands of disability insurance claims that we\u2019ve handled, we\u2019re dealing with 40 different disability companies. Each company has their own multiple different versions of their disability policies much like car carriers offer multiple version\u2013 car manufacturers offer multiple different models of cars. Disability carriers do it the same way.<\/p>\n And Social Security, it\u2019s one policy with one set of rules, and that\u2019s it. Disability insurance is a whole other world. It\u2019s like it comes out to be hundreds of different contracts. They\u2019ve been written going back for 75 to 100 years disability insurance policy have been written\u2013 not that we have policies that are a hundred years old. But we do have policies that are 40 years old\u2013<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: Yeah, they\u2019re very old.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: \u2013because most policies, many policies have lifetime benefits paid to age 65. People buy these policies in their early 20s in the beginning of their careers or when they start working. So we have seen hundreds of different disability policies. And the nuances are so\u2013 they\u2019re so minute that if you don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on there, you can really put a client in a compromised position.<\/p>\n The other thing that where lawyers who don\u2019t do this work get in trouble is with time frames. And talk about those, even if it\u2019s ERISA or the policy, why it\u2019s so important to comply with these frames?<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: Strict deadlines. ERISA, especially, when they see you have 180 days file an appeal, if you submit it on 181\u2013 and I\u2019ve seen cases where people have done that. And the insurance company says had 180 days. You didn\u2019t file it on time. We\u2019re not accepting it.<\/p>\n And right there, your legal rights are done. You can\u2019t pursue beyond that time frame on it. Statute of limitations, as well. Most policies, private policies, are governed by the state it was delivered in. ERISA usually has three years from proof of loss.<\/p>\n At least now, with the new regulations, the insurance companies are advising the exact date by which a lawsuit has to be filed. And if you don\u2019t within that time frame, that\u2019s that. There\u2019s nothing that can be done.<\/p>\n We get calls frequently throughout the year of people like, three or four years ago, my insurance company denied my case, and I want to take a look at it. And you could be like, you have a great case. You could have gotten something or whatever the case may be, but you did it to within that time.<\/p>\n So these timelines are a lot of times for courts black and white, because in the ERISA federal court system, it\u2019s very\u2013 it\u2019s busy. And this judge it may be looking at your case isn\u2019t just handling ERISA cases like a Social Security judge is only doing those. They\u2019re doing complex criminal and civil cases as well. So if they get something across their desk on a statute of limitations, that\u2019s a no-brainer just to kick the case out. So you have to be very, very conscious of the frames.<\/p>\n Not to mention in the private disability world, since it does usually have a quicker turnaround with an insurance company having to make a decision, whereas Social Security usually know you\u2019re in it for a long time before you\u2019re going to have a decision. There\u2019s a lot more, in my opinion, added stress for the person to try to get this done quicker because they\u2019re not working. They\u2019re not working. So the frames, making sure the insurance company\u2019s abiding by the time frames. Everything\u2019s numbers and everything\u2019s paper trails when it comes to these policies.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: Yeah. And Social Security, if you screw up a date or something, or you miss a deadline, you can reapply. I mean, a woman called me yesterday and goes, well, I just got approved for Social Security. It\u2019s been seven years. I ignored my private MetLife claim. Can I do something now?<\/p>\n And I was like, no, you basically had three years, usually give or take. I\u2019ve seen five or six, but not seven years. We just can\u2019t\u2013 there\u2019s nothing we can do in that situation to try to bring that claim. Now, if she had been paying premiums and had her own policy, then maybe it\u2019d be a different standard. But you cannot not just reapply like you do in Social Security.<\/p>\n And that the thing is with the Social Security, it\u2019s kind of like you get what you pay for. The stakes are a lot higher in a private disability claim. These insurance companies are billions and trillions of dollars in assets. And they have a lot more resources, which is another thing, where there is a lot more scrutiny I believe on the private side in the disability insurance benefit claims than what you see on the Social Security side where they\u2019re\u2013 whoever they\u2019re finding to look at claims, they don\u2019t have the resources that these insurance companies\u2013<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: Yeah. You\u2019re going to talk with private investigators. There\u2019s surveillance background searches, sending you out to multiple doctors, IMEs, all this stuff. Their pockets are very, very deep.<\/p>\n GREG DELL<\/strong>: Yeah. So you have to be even more prepared in terms of bringing these claims. So complete differences what we want you to understand in terms of when you\u2019re looking for a disability attorney, because a lot of people go on Google or any of the search engines, and they put in disability attorney.<\/p>\n STEPHEN JESSUP<\/strong>: And it\u2019s almost always Social Security and disability.<\/p>\n GREG DELL:<\/strong> And they read lots of articles and things like that. And they come up with these Social Security Disability-type things. But those standards are completely different and don\u2019t apply to disability insurance.<\/p>\n And for the people that are searching disability insurance attorney, that\u2019s what we do. That\u2019s what we do on a nationwide basis and have been doing that for over 30 years and have become one of the premier the country who do this and have a reputation with every disability company for being able to proactively and proficiently represent our clients.<\/p>\n So what we\u2019d like to do for you is we encourage you, no matter what stage you are at with your disability insurance claim, to give us a call at either the phone number at the bottom of the screen or go to our website a diAttorney.com, submit a free consultation. And what we\u2019d like to do is review your claim, which could be review your disability policy, review a denial letter if that\u2019s where you\u2019re at. We\u2019ll provide you with an immediate free consultation and opinion as to how we can help you.<\/p>\n We encourage you to please subscribe to our YouTube channel, in which we\u2019ve been doing these videos for years and have one of the biggest followings for any\u2013 probably the biggest following for any disability insurance law firm since we\u2019ve been doing this for over 10 years with these videos and really upped our game in terms of doing more out of requests from people saying I love the videos. And we love when you publishes videos. So please subscribe.<\/p>\n We look forward to the opportunity to help you should you need us. And you should know that our offices are based out of Hollywood, Florida. But our attorneys represent clients all over the entire country. And in this digital and paperless world that we live in, we\u2019re available to help you no matter where you are. Thank you for considering our law firm.<\/p>\n If, in fact, you do have a disability insurance income policy our disability insurance lawyers are available nationwide to provide you with an immediate FREE consultation to discuss your disability insurance claim.<\/p>\n\n
The Differences Between a Disability Insurance Lawyer and a Social Security Disability Lawyer<\/h2>\n
There Are Numerous Differences Between an SSDI and Disability Insurance Claim<\/h2>\n
Over 3 Million Annual Applications for SSDI Versus 160,000 Applications for Disability Insurance<\/h2>\n
The Proper Handling of a Disability Insurance Claim Requires a Lot of Time and Attention to Detail<\/h2>\n
The Disability Insurance Companies Have More Resources and Provide a Higher Level of Claim Review<\/h2>\n