First-Call Checklist for Talking With a Disability Firm
This checklist covers what to have in front of you for a first call about a disability claim: the latest letter, the date it arrived, your providers, medications, and work history. It also gives you space to write down names, deadlines, and next steps while you talk.
It works whether the claim is yours or belongs to an adult you are helping.
First-Call Checklist
Before the call
- Your most recent letter from Social Security, every page
- The date that letter arrived
- A list of your doctors, clinics, and hospitals
- Your current medications
- A rough history of the jobs you have held
- A pen and paper, or this page open, for notes
- The questions you want answered
If you are calling for someone else
- The adult whose claim it is can join the call, or has said they want you to make it
- You know how that adult prefers to be contacted
- You have the letter and lists above, or know where they are
During the call, write down
- Who you spoke with
- Any deadline mentioned
- What happens next, and who does it
- Anything you were asked to send
How to get the most from a first call about a disability claim
Lead with the stage and the date. “My application was denied, and the letter came on the 12th” tells anyone helping you what has to happen first. Details about your health matter too, but the deadline sets the order.
Tell the truth about the hard parts, too. The records usually show those facts already, and a straight account of a hard fact does far less damage than a story that falls apart later. If you are nervous about the call, that is normal; it usually means you care how it turns out.
If you are helping someone else, the claim and its decisions still belong to them. The Helping Someone guide covers how to support an adult without taking over.
Talk with Downard & Associates about your claim
Downard & Associates represents adults with SSDI and SSI claims in every state by phone and video, from applications through Appeals Council review. Sending an inquiry starts a conversation; it does not file anything with Social Security. We respond to inquiries within 3 business hours.
Representation before Social Security nationwide: 42 U.S.C. 406; 20 CFR 404.1705.