Claiming Social Security benefits can be as easy or as complicated as one makes it, but sometimes the claim does not go through as one would prefer. These benefits are administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and although the process is usually smooth because of the amount of people that go through it, in some cases there are undue delays that can cause distress to beneficiaries.
Depending on the type of benefit you are applying for, it can take more or less time for the application to go through. For example, those who wish to claim their retirement benefits should file about three months before the date they wish to start receiving payments.
This can take more time if some of the information in your profile is incorrect or missing, so before tuning in your application be sure to review all the information the SSA has about you and double check it. You don’t want to begin a claim, just find out that your job details from ten years ago are incorrect and that way your benefits cannot be properly processed.
The situation changes if you are applying for disability, as this benefit can take upwards of seven months to be processed and allocated, even in cases where the disability is fast tracked by the SSA.
In this case ensuring that all the medical paperwork is submitted correctly and that you are open for reviews and questions would be what expedites he process, but even then, it is complicated and many have passed away from terminal illnesses without receiving benefits because of the lengthy processes.
What happens with delayed Social Security payments
In some cases, although rare ones, the delays are such that it warranties that the delayed benefits will be paid back in a lump sum to the beneficiaries, but these are very rare instances and require the beneficiary to fill out paperwork, forms and meet plenty of requirements.
Retirees Rejoice: Understanding the Impact of the 2025 Social Security COLA
Some of the key retieemnts bneificaires need to meet to receive the back payments from the SSA are:
- Submit a valid application in a timely manner to the SSA authorities.
- Meet the eligibility criteria and be of the required age for the program to which they have applied.
- Have applied for family or disability programs, if applicable.
- Keep financial and personal data up to date, which is essential to avoid delays in the processing of payments.
By meeting these requirements, beneficiaries can ask the SSA to reconsider the months that they have not been paid and get the money owed to them, usually in a lump sum payment in order to redress the situation.
Since the delays are rare and the lump sum payments even more, there are things that beneficiaries should take into account. The first one being never to count on the money that has not entered their account.
Thought it might be tempting to believe that you will most definitely get any lost payments, if the mistake is on your part, the SSA is not obligated to compensate you for your troubles. If the mistake is on the SSA’s part the lost payments would be considered compensation for the inconvenience and possible financial crisis that this could cause.
Another thing that you should take into account is that the additional money may be paid to you in a lump sum payment, which means that your income will be higher and that could cause potential consequences with the IRS and even federal taxes. Although it should not be too much of a problem, it is better to be safe than sorry and have all your ducks in a row before the money is distributed.