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Will receiving a personal injury settlement affect my disability benefits?

by | Mar 6, 2022 | SSD - Social Security Disability Process And Benefits |

The answer depends on what type of disability you receive – SSI or SSDI. The amount you can have in assets (like a savings or checking account) is limited with SSI. To get SSI, your countable resources must not be worth more than $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. Getting a personal injury settlement over the SSI resource limit could disqualify you from the program or could reduce or stop your checks.

There are ways to avoid this from happening. One way is to set up a special needs trust for the settlement to be placed directly into. Another way is to spend down the settlement until you are under the SSI resource limit. You should report receipt of a personal injury settlement to Social Security Administration immediately if you receive SSI. There could be consequences if you do not tell SSA about the settlement within 10 days after the end of the month in which the settlement was received.

The amount you can have in resources is not limited if you receive SSDI. A personal injury settlement, even if it is large, would not impact your eligibility for SSDI, stop your checks, or reduce your checks. You do not need to tell SSA if you receive a personal injury settlement if you receive SSDI.

If you receive both SSI and SSDI, then you should follow the rules of the SSI program.

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