After you have attended your Social Security Disability hearing, you will receive a Notice of Decision in the mail. When you receive that Notice of Decision, you will receive one of the three types of decisions post-hearing which include: 1) unfavorable decision; 2) fully favorable decision; and 3) partially favorable decision. An unfavorable decision is simply a denial of your claim. This means the judge did not award you any benefits following the hearing on your disability claim. You have the right to file an appeal if you receive an unfavorable decision. On the opposite spectrum, receiving a fully favorable decision is the best possible outcome for any Social Security Disability claim. Essentially, a fully favorable decision means the judge has found you disabled as of the date you were alleging you became disabled in your application. A fully favorable decision means you will receive the maximum in backpay as well as ongoing monthly benefits. While you will not want to appeal this favorable decision, it is important to note that the Appeals Council may still review your claim for any appealable issues even if you choose not to appeal it yourself. Finally, a partially favorable decision means the judge has found you disabled as of a different date than you alleged in your application. This means that you will be receiving ongoing monthly benefits, but you will receive less as far as backpay. While you have the right to appeal a partially favorable decision, you should give it careful thought before doing so. In some situations, going back to another hearing on your claim versus the amount of backpay you lost is not worth the risk. Therefore, it is important to work with an experienced law firm to understand whether appealing your partially favorable decision is appropriate in your case.
