The Advantages of Local Representation

If you have seen any amount of daytime television, chances are you have seen many ads for disability attorneys. Some are local attorneys with offices in your area, but many of them are large, national firms that are usually located in a different state.

Typically, the mindset of most individuals is that “bigger is better,” however, this is not necessarily the case when it comes to representation in a legal matter.

By hiring a smaller, more local firm, you will receive much more personalized attention in the following ways:

1.       Familiarity with local field offices and courts. This is another advantage over a national firm because a local representative deals with the area Social Security offices and courts on a daily basis. A local representative will be familiar with the staff in these offices and therefore has more ease obtaining information or getting questions answered because they have an established rapport. A local representative can also give you good directions to the court and parking tips that someone from many states away would not know!

2.       Relationships with local medical providers. Since Social Security disability representatives are constantly requesting medical records in support of their clients’ claims, over time relationships are established between the providers and the representatives. A local representative may be aware of a doctor retiring in the near-future and can make sure all the pertinent records are secured from that doctor ahead of time. A representative of a national firm, on the other hand, must rely on the information provided by their clients to find out such things.

3.       Face-to-face appointments. Unless you are willing to purchase a plane ticket, chances are you will never see your representative in-person until it is time for the hearing. Face-to-face appointments are critical when it comes to understanding a person’s disability claim. If the representative is able to physically see how you function, such as difficulty rising from a chair or the panic you experience when you speak with someone for the first time, he is able to get a better idea as far as what your claim is all about. It is also much easier to ask questions when you are face-to-face with someone, and establish that all-important rapport.

4.       Knowledge of local hospital rating programs and other care. There are instances when a claimant does not have insurance. Since medical records are imperative to a disability claim, it is important to find either free or low cost care for these claimants. A local representative is knowledgeable about area hospitals that offer sliding scale fees and free clinics. Local representatives may also have good relationships with social workers that can help coordinate care for claimants.

5.       Familiarity with your area. When you hire representation that is local to you, they, too, understand the local issues that may be important to you, such as the closing of an area hospital or an election where community mental health funding is at stake.  Because issues such as these affect everyone in an area, it helps to establish rapport between client and representative. You may even root for the same sports teams, which creates a nice feeling of camaraderie between the client and the representative.

Representation is a personal choice and sometimes a quite difficult one. With so many representatives with TV commercials and other types of ads, it is hard to know who would be right for you. However, based on the reasons outlined above, choosing someone in your local area is a step in the right direction.

Written by Anna Westfall & edited by Paulette F. Balin

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What Will SSA Do About Direct Deposit Fraud?

While SSA is pushing for more disability and retirement benefit recipients to sign up for electronic payment in lieu of a paper check, scammers are working harder than ever to put those benefits in their own bank accounts.

For example, some Social Security benefit recipients – senior citizens in particular – have been victimized by a scam that asks them for their bank information in order to claim a big cash prize. Instead of a prize, their monthly benefits are stolen.

According to a CNN Money article published on September 26^th , all an identity thief needs is a name and a bank account number in order to have the benefits re-routed to their own accounts. Given all the security measures SSA requires to disclose information about a particular person or their claim (name, date of birth, mother’s maiden name, city of birth, etc.), this is incredibly shocking.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that as of August 31^st, 2012, their office received over 19,000 reports of “questionable” changes or attempts to change beneficiary’s direct deposit information. In response, SSA spokesman Mark Hinkle stated that these reports represent only a “tiny fraction” of the 711 million electronic payments SSA has made to benefit recipients up until August 31^st, 2012.

SSA stated they cannot comment on particular cases. However, Hinkle stated that not all cases of wrong payments are due to fraud.  

The inspector general said that SSA needs to make vast improvements as far as correctly identifying benefit recipients that want to change their direct deposit information. Recommendations include sending letters, emails or text messages to the benefit recipient whenever direct deposit information is changed, or develop unique routing numbers for the pre-paid cards, since these are of particular interest to identity thieves because they are harder to track.

Currently, SSA has a system in place that allows a benefit recipient to completely block access to his or her Social Security account. This also includes the benefit recipient. This way, no changes can be made whatsoever unless the benefit recipient visits their local field office and presents a photo I.D., and requests the block to be removed. Electronic access to make changes can be blocked as well. This can be accomplished online by visiting www.socialsecurity.gov/blockaccess.

However, in light of these findings by the OIG, is this enough? With so many Americans depending on disability or retirement payments to get by, a typing error is just as unacceptable as lax security. What will be done about it?

If someone contacts you via email or phone asking for personal information, never give it out. If it has been a few days since you expected your benefit to be deposited into your account, contact SSA as soon as possible. If you hired an attorney to obtain your benefits, contact their office for assistance immediately. Your attorney will protect your rights and make sure SSA does everything properly for you.

 Written by Anna Westfall & edited by Attorney Andrew November

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