AI SSDI appeal letter
Social Security denied your disability claim? You have 60 days from the date you receive the decision to appeal, and the appeal is what keeps your original filing date alive. Enter the denial reason from your letter, your conditions, and the new evidence since the denial, and get a formal appeal letter for the level you are at: reconsideration, an ALJ hearing request, or an evidence and function statement.
Your appeal letter
Draft savedAdd the key facts to unlock a strong letter.
The date printed on the denial letter, not the day it arrived.
New treatment records, a new diagnosis, a new specialist, a treating doctor's RFC form, a failed work attempt. A reconsideration that submits the same file SSA already denied will get the same answer.
Specific, not general: the task, how long it takes, what you have to stop doing, and how long recovery takes. Do not exaggerate and do not minimize.
Dates, hours, duties, what went wrong, and why it ended. A failed work attempt is strong evidence that you cannot sustain full-time work.
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Your appeal deadline
You have 60 days from the date you receive the decision to appeal, at every level. SSA assumes you received the notice 5 days after the date printed on it, unless you can show you got it later, so the deadline shown is the printed date plus 65 days. This is calendar math from your date only, not legal advice. File early, not perfectly; a thin appeal filed on day 20 beats a perfect appeal filed on day 66.
Your output
Drafting your appeal letter…
From your denial facts, for your review1. Pick what you need: reconsideration, ALJ hearing, or evidence prep
2. Enter your denial date and reason
3. Hit Generate
Filing checklist
Do these the day you file. Tap items as you finish them; progress saves on this device.
- Calendar the deadline first: the date printed on the denial letter, plus 5 days for mailing, plus 60 days. Write it on the envelope the letter came in.
- Appeal, do not file a new application. A new application gets a new filing date and can cost you months of back pay.
- For reconsideration, file Form SSA-561 and, if the appeal is about the medical decision, Form SSA-3441-BK, the Disability Report Appeal.
- For a hearing, file Form HA-501 within 60 days of the reconsideration denial.
- Attach the new evidence, not the same file SSA already denied: new treatment records, an RFC form from your treating doctor, third-party statements.
- Keep a copy of everything you send, and the mailing receipt. If you are already late, file anyway and explain the reason in writing.
Printable letter + mail log
Build a clean, one-document version of your letter and filing log, then print it or save it as a PDF for your records.
Saved drafts
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Past outputs
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Real situations this fits
- SSA said you can still do light work, but your treating doctor documented that you cannot stand for more than 15 minutes at a time, and that RFC finding was not in the file
- Your condition has worsened since the original application: a new diagnosis, a new medication with side effects, or a failed work attempt with dates
- The denial letter lists a doctor you never saw, or misses your main treating doctor entirely, and that gap is part of your appeal
- Reconsideration denied you and you need a hearing request, with the new evidence and your testimony framed for a judge who never saw the earlier decisions
- You were denied on a technical ground, not enough work credits or income over the limit, and you need to correct the record instead of arguing the medical case
- You are preparing the evidence statement itself: a function report in your own words, a daily diary in dated form, and third-party statements from people who see your limits
How an SSDI appeal actually works
Appeal, do not reapply
The most common and most expensive mistake after a denial is starting over with a fresh application. A new application gets a new filing date, which can cost you months of back pay, and sends you back to the start of the same queue with the same file. An appeal keeps your original filing date and moves your existing claim up the ladder, where a new decision-maker looks at it.
Reconsideration is a paper review, not the place cases are won
A different reviewer at your state Disability Determination Services office, someone who had no role in the original decision, looks at your entire file plus any new evidence. There is no hearing and no live testimony. Expect a wait of three to seven months, and published figures put approval somewhere around 10 to 15 percent. For most people, reconsideration is a required step on the way to the hearing.
The hearing is where denials reverse
If reconsideration denies you, a judge who had no part in the earlier decisions hears the case in person, by video, or by phone. Advocates commonly cite approval rates near 45 to 55 percent at the hearing stage. The judge sees you, hears your testimony, and weighs your treating doctor's opinion directly. The wait is long, roughly 286 days on average, and all written evidence must reach the judge no later than five business days before the hearing.
SSA decides on function, not diagnosis
Two people with the same diagnosis get different answers because one can still work a desk job and the other cannot sit for an hour. Your evidence has to prove what you cannot do, in concrete terms, day after day. A diagnosis alone almost never wins an appeal. The RFC form from your treating doctor, stating your limits in work terms, is the single most useful document in most appeals.
New evidence is the whole strategy
A reconsideration that submits the same file SSA already denied will get the same answer. Quote the decision back, name the specific new evidence, and tie both to a date. New treatment records, a new diagnosis, a new specialist, or a treating doctor's statement that was not in the original file are what give the new reviewer something different to decide on.
Keep treating, keep the diary, keep the record straight
Gaps in treatment are read as proof you got better. If you cannot afford care, say so in writing and keep every free-clinic, ER, or urgent-care visit on the record. A dated notebook of symptoms, sleep, medication side effects, and what you could and could not do that day turns vague complaints into a dated record. Describe your limits the same way to SSA, to your doctors, and in your diary; inconsistencies are the fastest way to lose credibility.