Self Employment

Most Social Security Disability (“SSD”) applicants who were self employed are initially denied benefits. It seems that the Social Security Administration (the “SSA”) is suspicious that such individuals have not really stopped working. Consequently, because the self employed applicant’s credibility is at issue, a hearing is usually required. The waiting time for a hearing is typically 18-24 months after a claim has been denied.

I represent a former self employed sales representative whose SSD application was approved today only a few months after it was filed. I submitted a letter from the claimant’s accountant stating that the claimant’s business had been inactive and no income had been received for any services rendered as of the disability onset date. SSD benefits were awarded shortly after the accountant’s letter was submitted.

There was strong evidence that the claimant had a severe case of Lupus. Nonetheless, I suspect that the SSA would have denied the application in the absence of the accountant’s letter. The accountant provided third party evidence to substantiate the claimant’s contention that she had stopped working. Because the claimant’s credibility was not at issue to prove that she was no longer working, there was no need to hear her testimony at a hearing.