One Firm, Two Solutions: Personal Injury and Disability Claims

A personal injury settlement can provide much needed compensation, but it may not mean the end of your financial concerns, especially if your injuries prevent you from working long-term.

It’s a mistake to wait until your personal injury case is settled before considering an application for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Ideally, personal injury and disability claims should be part of a single process and handled by the same law firm. This integrated approach can make both types of claims more streamlined and successful, help to keep costs down, and secure a stronger financial future for the injured and their families.

“Our personal injury department performs a free disability consultation every time we meet with a client,” says Graham Law’s Bob McClelland. “And we continually review our clients’ cases for the possibility of disability.”

Waiting for a Settlement Can Hurt Your Social Security Claim

When you receive money from a personal injury lawsuit, the settlement your attorney negotiates takes into consideration not only your economic losses up to that point, but also how much your losses are expected to be in the future as you continue to recover and possibly remain out of work.

However, estimating future losses is not an exact science, and the reality is, you may require additional income as you complete your recovery. And your injuries could keep you out of work indefinitely, or force you to work a different job, possibly for fewer hours and less pay.

That’s why your case should take an “all of the above” approach that considers—at the outset—a personal injury claim in addition to other sources of disability income, including SSI and SSDI. But you shouldn’t wait until after a lawsuit payout to apply for these government benefits. Here’s why:

• SSI’s Strict Financial Limits: SSI is a needs-based program designed for disabled people with limited income and assets. To qualify, your “countable resources” (like cash, bank accounts, and other assets) generally can’t exceed $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. A personal injury settlement, even a modest one, can push you over these limits and disqualify you from SSI. By filing for benefits before your settlement, we can help you plan ahead—potentially structuring your settlement to minimize its impact, such as directing funds into a trust.
• SSDI and Settlement Timing: SSDI, unlike SSI, isn’t based on financial need—it depends on your work history and disability severity. A personal injury settlement won’t directly affect SSDI eligibility, but putting off filing can still hurt. SSDI claims typically take months or years to process, and benefits include a five-month waiting period following approval. Early filing gets the clock ticking sooner. The longer you delay filing, the longer it could be until you finally receive benefits.
• Lost Backpay: SSDI and SSI offer retroactive benefits. In other words, you could be paid for the time between your application date and approval. If you wait to file, you shrink the backpay window and could potentially lose thousands of dollars. For example, applying a year earlier could result in an extra 12 months of benefits—money you can’t reclaim if you delay.
• Financial Pressure: If you’re hurt and can’t work, delays in receiving disability benefits can leave you in a financial bind. Insurance companies sometimes try to “wait out” claimants and force them into accepting less money. Without SSDI or SSI payments, you might feel forced to accept a “lowball” personal injury settlement to cover basic bills. Disability benefits provide a steady income stream, giving you greater leverage—and more time—to negotiate a settlement.

“We analyze our personal injury clients for disability from the moment they meet with us,” says Bob McClelland. “When we identify a client with injuries that we think might qualify them for SSD/SSDI, we walk them through the  personal injury process in conjunction with filing for disability. We have Graham Law’s Social Security disability department contact our clients and answer questions they have about disability. If the Social Security attorney believes a client should file a disability claim, they’ll help them with that.”

Graham Law disability attorney Joshua Graham explains that the process works the other way as well.

“Sometimes, I notice in a client’s medical notes that they were in an accident, and I’ll make a point to talk with them about it and see if they’re already working with a personal injury attorney,” says Josh.

Combining Claims to Save You Time, Money, and Confusion

A strength of our firm is the close collaboration between our departments. Looking at a case comprehensively, using a unified approach—and not splitting it into separate parts that are handled independently and at different times, possibly even by different law firms—can have a synergistic effect that benefits our clients in several ways:

• Shared Resources, Lower Costs: Instead of hiring two firms to gather medical records, consult doctors, and obtain expert opinions, our clients benefit from a single, more efficient resource gathering process. The same evidence, like MRI reports and doctor notes, that we use in your injury case can be used for your disability claim, eliminating duplicate expenses and saving you money.
• Coordinated Medical Strategy: Medical evidence is the backbone of personal injury and Social Security disability cases. Our teams align their efforts to ensure your doctors provide detailed, consistent documentation that strengthens your personal injury claim and your disability application. A specialist’s report on your chronic pain, for instance, can support your claim for personal injury damages and your proof of disability. Coordinating medical care and opinions from the start can also ensure you’re seeing the right specialists, whose opinions carry significant weight with the Social Security Administration.
• Better Outcomes: Collaboration bolsters both cases. A well-documented personal injury claim provides a treasure trove of evidence for your disability application, improving your chances of approval. Meanwhile, an approved disability claim could serve as evidence of your injuries and help justify a higher  settlement. This synergy can maximize your client experience and financial recovery across the board.

“It can be confusing for clients to have one firm for their personal injury and one for disability,” says Bob McClelland. “We share information and records, keeping costs for our clients down. We also collaborate medical care and medical opinions, which often helps in both cases.”

Graham Law Is Your One-Stop Firm for Personal Injury and Disability Claims

After an injury, you need a law firm that sees the big picture and takes a wholistic client approach.

“Without having a disability team, clients can delay making that call for a consultation, which may result in a denial of benefits. They don’t need to find an out-of-town disability attorney they don’t know or trust when they can use the same firm they’ve trusted for their injury claim,” says Bob McClelland.

For Southeast Ohioans, that firm is Graham Law. Call or contact us today to start your free personal injury and Social Security disability consultation.