Hi Harmony. First, did you sign an attorney fee agreement? It will state their demands. Now I filed for ssd and there was no fee unless I win. That said, since you dropped your case I think the only thing they can charge you for is the expense of copies that were made for your case thus far. But read the agreement. Hope this helps.
I don't want to & wouldn't give up, but since I found out people's cases are put on the Internet for all to see I'm considering it. I can't take the chance of my family being hurt. Something was brought up at my hearing that isn't true which was painful for me which I can deal with but my family would not be able to. This isn't right for them to have their lives forever ruined by this. If there was a way I could know this would not be done, I for sure would continue. This has devastated me finding out very personal info is revealed for anyone and everyone to read.
harmony, I think the average person would not even think are know how to look up something like that. Who would spent there time to even consider doing something like that except maybe people that wanted to see how the system works. This whole thing seems like a volation of someones rights. And how could they put the mental aspect of it out there. I understand how you wouldn't like for anyone to know about anything its very understandable. Its like having an open book on your life and disability its sad very sad and I am sorry for you and everyone that has to go thru it. But least it isn't well know it is avable I mean who would of thought but maybe a lawyer are someone that is going thru this process. My heart has always gone out to you since I first read your post I'm so heart boken for you. God Bless you my friend I wish I could say are help you feel better.
I am most concerned about my family, they are all I have. I'm sure the day would arrive where they would look it up, or someone would tell them about it. I'm considering ending it all, I can't stop crying over this. I didn't have much of a chance anyway, it may already be too late & my case is being posted even if I do drop it. I just wonder how many people have killed themselves over something like this? They are so concerned about mental cases they won't even let someone read the doctor's reports, but yet they'll post the entire case on line, and if someone wants more info they pay $4.95 for it.
The doctors I went to never helped me, all they ever told me to do was to go to work so I wouldn't be depressed. Many of them actually don't get it either. Some people honestly really are not mentally capable of working. If they had helped me long ago, i wouldn't have had my last insured date pass. The social security office played a trick on me not revealing the date, then throwing me off of SSI into nothing. It's not fair, I can take the unfairness as much as it hurts to never win my claim, but I can't take losing my family or have them be hurt. They haven't done anything to deserve this. They are mentioned in the judge's denial & it is not good. I accepted it & figured I could always burn it so my family never saw it. Now it sounds like it is too late for all of us. It's also not fair people aren't warned their case will be on the internet. I just happened to run across all these cases when I was looking up the judge that denied me without even giving me a fair hearing. I can't even see if any of these cases ever were won, I'd have to pay money to see the outcome & don't want to waste a bunch of money for a lot of cases in hopes of seeing someone's decision overturned.
Harmony if it is already on there, then dropping it wont change anything I mean it always matters but I mean if you can't take it off. then keep fighting if it there to stay then go down fighting till the end. If it is there and there is nonething that can take it off. I am truely sorry for you. But it seems like you have a cases the judge was wrong you found mistakes and maybe if you tell your family members when they find out that that is why your fighting to right the wrong. hang in there maybe someone else will offer advice that can help. I will keep you in my prayers please let us know we all care.
The Following User Says Thank You to jgrangran For This Useful Post: Harmoney (08-14-2011)
I think SpineAZ posted awhile back that you can fire your attorney @ any time but depending on the legal agreement forms you signed, you may still owe the attorney (perhaps not the full amount - (25% of backpay or max $6K) if you are ever approved for the work they have already done. This is why another attorney might be reluctant to take you on after you fire the 1st one b/c this complicates the fee arrangement agreement. Also, SS will pay the lawyer or lawyer(s) before you get your backpay.
Last edited by BlueSkies14; 08-14-2011 at 06:51 AM.
My case isn't already on there because I just started the appeals process. Don't know what took so long for the appeals board to write to my attorney. I was denied six months ago. Now it is just starting up with appealing. The additional information I sent to the attorney was never submitted, and the other doctors still weren't contacted. I can't get another attorney, none of them want my case. I'm pretty much stuck with the one I've got regardless of what has happened. If I drop my case now it could prevent my case from being placed on the internet. Only cases that have reached my level get placed on there, and I believe it is done to further punish anyone who dares to make a claim the judge made mistakes. Human nature being what it is can make some judges feel they were not wrong in their initial decision, no matter what the reason for the remand. The courts are the ones that release the information I found out.
I would continue fighting and wish I could, because I was taking the attitude I had nothing to lose and all to gain, but if I drop my case now it for sure will not be splashed all over the internet. Believe me, my family would not understand, it is really bad what was said about me and it involves them. I don't want them hurt and I feel I need to do this to protect them from being harmed forever from this. The saddest thing is what was said I did to them I honestly didn't do. I guess this was all said to help me win my case, well it for sure didn't. It probably made the judge turn against me all the more for all I know. I wouldn't believe anything like this could happen if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. I think it should be made illegal when an innocent family member was a minor. They don't care who they hurt; this more than proves that. I can take the pain, what else is new for me, but my precious, innocent family should not have to be put through this. Believe me they would never recover from this.
Harmoney, I am so sorry you are going thru this. Having info out on the internet is available. I was searching for a lady who hit my daughters car. She gave her the plate (temperory) , her name and cell, ins. co. She had no coverage and would not cooperate with a payment plan. Nor to give us her address (we are going to sue). So I was in a mania for days and during that time I got 2 address, one will be confirmed very shortly, her family w/ address & phone, kids names, ex hubby, new boyfriend, I knew when she went to court with who for child support. All for free. No I am not a psycho nor will I harrass anyone. I just want an address to sue, no other recourse. The damage done 2,200. The car is worth 980, and if she had the coverage we would get 500. But someone told her that this is MI no fault, pay for yours, we pay for ours. Its the point. We were going to give her a break by paying only 300 (50 a mo) because she is a single parent, but no return calls. But yes, it is scary of what is out there now and who can access it. I remember you on a post stating that your confidental business is accessable. I would think that is would be sealed or something. I had a question about your last insured date had passed. What does that mean? You are in my prayer. It is tearing you up. Take care of yourself!
Harmoney, I am so sorry you are going thru this. Having info out on the internet is available. I was searching for a lady who hit my daughters car. She gave her the plate (temperory) , her name and cell, ins. co. She had no coverage and would not cooperate with a payment plan. Nor to give us her address (we are going to sue). So I was in a mania for days and during that time I got 2 address, one will be confirmed very shortly, her family w/ address & phone, kids names, ex hubby, new boyfriend, I knew when she went to court with who for child support. All for free. No I am not a psycho nor will I harrass anyone. I just want an address to sue, no other recourse. The damage done 2,200. The car is worth 980, and if she had the coverage we would get 500. But someone told her that this is MI no fault, pay for yours, we pay for ours. Its the point. We were going to give her a break by paying only 300 (50 a mo) because she is a single parent, but no return calls. But yes, it is scary of what is out there now and who can access it. I remember you on a post stating that your confidental business is accessable. I would think that is would be sealed or something. I had a question about your last insured date had passed. What does that mean? You are in my prayer. It is tearing you up. Take care of yourself!
About your car accident,,. why not let your insurance company handle it. Its a no fault state where I live too, we let the insurance companies deal, not the person/s involved. They/insurance companies work it out between themselves and the insured stay out of the mix. If someone is not insured, then the police handle the illegal part of that and your own Uninsured Motorist handles the party not insured who hit your daughter.
You would think medical files, especially mental would be sealed. I thought so too until last week. I'm sorry you've had to go through all your stuff with the accident, good grief if it isn't one thing it's another. I hope everything works out OK. If you google someone's name anymore a picture of their house and address pops up. I just had something removed from one site telling them I did not appreciate them revealing this. They at least had an opt out system, but I'd have never known about this either had I not done a search for myself. Stuff pops up everyday anymore on the net. Immediately they did remove it which I appreciate. Regarding the social security court files... I received an email saying they will not remove a file unless it's court ordered. Good luck with that, they aren't easy to fight. Mine isn't showing yet, but I want to make sure it never does. If I could be assured it would not be shown on the internet I would continue on with my fight which I'd like to do since I've made it this far.
To answer your question regarding my insured date, this is something I've found out every working person has, and I found this out too late. My date was many years ago I never knew anything about. I didn't have the internet at home, or even in the work place to easily gain knowledge of something like this at that time. I envy all the people that have this tool today. The internet is a wonderful thing, but revealing people's personal medical cases on the net I think goes a bit too far. I think people should be informed this could happen, that could make it where more people decide to never appeal a judge's decision, or continue on knowing this. They really can't use anything else against me but the date, I qualify in all other areas and was on SSI for many years. That isn't to be considered now because I was removed from that due to not qualifying financially anymore. Social security wants to make sure I never get anything again. They've succeeded there, I'll give them that. I should be able to request my medical file be sealed, but I don't think that can be done without knowing the right person. I don't know the right people to help me, so I most likely will bail out from my appeal. It doesn't look like I stand much of a chance anyway, I've been beat up by social security as well as other regular people over telling me I should have known. I already suffer from low self esteem, this kind of stuff just makes me dwell on how stupid I was not to know about the date. It doesn't matter to the judge what I was going through at the time, some of the judges love to be mean & turn most of the people down. I see she has a very high denial rating; I guess this makes her feel superior to the poor people turned away to fend for themselves.
First, purusue SSDI so that you can have any benefits to which you are entitled and awareded.
Then you can pursue finding out if information is on line. There are companies out there that help your internet presence and they might be able to look into what can be done to remove any reference to you.
I've never seen a fully detailed case out on the internet. What I've found even when using the judge name is very vague and "surface data". And, if f it would require knowing your judge to find you, it would be hard to find anything. There's no reason you can't show your attorney what you've found on the internet and ask how this can be avoided or what law there is that allows this. I know in criminal cases of course the information is public but even then it's extremely hard to find unless you know exactly what detail you are looking for.
I was shocked to see my friend's entire case displayed, as well as his denial. The other cases I looked at did give out some very detailed information, many of the cases were mental disorders such as mine. I was kind of excited at first when I found this site, because I saw so many others were appealing the judge's decision too. many of them were for some of the same reasons I have. I found out none of these cases showed the end result which I would have liked to have known. It says someone has to pay $4.95 a case to see the entire case. That isn't much I know, but I don't want to pay that to probably see a bunch of denials even after the appeals. I know that is sounding negative, but it does get much more difficult at this level & it shouldn't have to be. If someone didn't get a fair hearing they simply didn't get a fair hearing.
I will send this information to my lawyer & ask if something could be done to not reveal my case, & explain why it is even more so important for me it not be posted. I'll see what he has to say about it. I'm feeling pretty beat down & not feeling like I have much hope. Usually I'm on here declaring I'm going to continue fighting all the way to the end. Hopefully I get some kind of good news & I can pass the info on here. I want people to be aware of what can is happening to their cases once they reach this level. It's scary how such important things like last insured dates and no privacy aren't revealed or disclosed. I personally think they should be. No matter how smart someone is, no one knows everything about all this kind of crazy stuff all on their own.
I wouldn't expect anyone to understand last insured whether a HS dropout or someone with a PhD. Unfortunately it's expected that someone will apply for SSI/SSDI simply based on the need for income within a relatively reasonable period after being out of work and thus remain insured. Fighting DLI is very hard but can be done.
I have one acquaintance with severe lupus and RA who works 10 hr/wk and won't apply. I've told her about DLI and that working only 10 hr/wk she's not earning credits and thus her "time insured" is bound to end. I even taught a closer friend of hers about the facts so she could mention it and use something like "hey, my friend just applied due to RA and was approved but was close to loosing eligibility". No matter what this person won't budge and she actually avoids me now when we're at the same event. When she applies and is denied I have no sympathy now that at least 2 people have warned her.
WOW, she is lucky to be warned about this. As you know I sure wish I had. I know of several people who I honestly believe without a doubt could get it, but they don't want it! It's not like it's a lot of money, plus it's a long fight for most. It wasn't for me when I was placed onto SSI though. Seems so strange to have it so easy for one, and now so difficult to get my work related record which is less pay than the SSI was. Plus I would have to pay for medicare where medicaid was free!
I know of another person who did get SSDI and then gave it up. He said he couldn't continue to live off the little he received each month. So, factoring in all these people that don't want it, give it up, or even unfortunately die, I believe there is enough there for the people who really are disabled and need it. That's why we all were made to pay into it. It shouldn't have to be a bloodbath to get it for some. I could see if someone really didn't have any evidence, but when people really do it's deliberately twisted into a bunch of lies. It's scary how doctors are allowed to play games, destroying records, or lying to their patient and saying they support them, but then writing up in reports something different the patient is not allowed to see. Then they post it on the net, talk about crazy.
While SS may not function well in regard to SSDI, there is no deliberate intention to make bad decisions, make people wait too long, etc. It's all a result of the rules about how to qualify for SSDI. SSDI requires that the person can do no job of any kind. That's a very strict definition. Add that to physicians who simply say someone can't work without providing medical substantiation and proof. Then take overworked SS workers and overworked and underpaid ALJ judges and staff. Here in AZ the population boomed in the 90's and 00's but there was no increase in SS claim staff nor in ALJ judges. So simple math shows they are fighting an uphill battle that continually falters.
SSDI funding is extremely limited. As baby boomers are heading to retirement there are less people paying in and more disabled employees filing. It's a huge job to figure out which claims are legitimate and which are not. There has not been enough coming in to balance what is being paid out and what must be put aside in reserves to pay future claimants. Every year SS publishes public reports about the amount of funding paid in vs benefits paid out. So there is not enough money to fund current and future needs. What US workers pay in usually doesn't even cover their own disability let alone the total fund amounts needed.
About your car accident,,. why not let your insurance company handle it. Its a no fault state where I live too, we let the insurance companies deal, not the person/s involved. They/insurance companies work it out between themselves and the insured stay out of the mix. If someone is not insured, then the police handle the illegal part of that and your own Uninsured Motorist handles the party not insured who hit your daughter.
HI harmoney, The accident was in the roseville police dept. parking lot (of all places). Since it was on private property and no injuries, no police report. We did go thru the insurance companies. She had no mini-tort (plpd or no fault) We had that but no collision. Her insurance said sue her, our ins co said the same. So that is what it comes down to. She t-boned my daughter on the passenger side and the person who was sitting there got out angry (normal reaction). The other girls friend got out and everything was defused. Like I said we tried to work with her. So we will sue now. I asked my hubby to call the ins co after they told us there is nothing they can do about the uninsured and underinsured motorists coverage and they told us that is used for when there are injuries, but not the vecihle. Her coverage (if she had it) was mini-tort. Ours is limited property damage liailibity. It costs very little and is the most omitted coverage. You bascially have to ask for it. So everyone out there check out your policy. On my daughters first car, she didn't have it until I caught it. Her 2nd car, same thing. Now she is on her 3rd, guess what I'll be looking for? Now for this other lady, I bet she has that coverage now (too late). It's not about the $ but the principle and her uncoorperation. I will get her when she least expects it. Yeah, I do wish it was handle thru the ins co, but now it is up to me. What is right is right, wahts wrong is wrong. We did not have full coverage because my daughter has nice beaters, but not that nice. Nice thought though thank you. Take care
Hi harmoney, hope my previos car ins. explaination made sense. I still don't know what the last insureded date means. Also do you know how many times a person can file for ssi/ssd? I believe it would be for ssi because she doesn't have to many work credits. It is my friend who applied maybe 7 yrs ago and was denied, she didn't pursue it. Last year she applied again, was denied and didn't persue it. She was on fia and had medical. She didn't was to go ahead because she needed here medical. I told her that she'd have medicaid. Now once her child turns 18 (2 1/2 yrs) Could she apply again? Should she start now because it could take years? She has alot of legit health issues backed by doctors. Were you on ssdi before? Or is this your first time filing. Once again it is scary about info you can get on the internet. It seems too easy. But I think someone who want certain info can get it from any source. When I did skip tracing for a repo co in 1981 & 82, There were two companies, still around, who I will not name, that I could call on for info (used only for repo business, not personal). Its like your personal life is not personal.
The last insured date is like having car insurance. The wonderful difference about car insurance is you receive statements saying what date you'll be insured up to until you make another payment. When someone works the money is automatically taken out of your check where I wasn't thinking about being insured, or that I could ever apply for disability. When someone stops working the money no longer is being taken out & a person is only insured up until a certain time. I was young, dumb and very ill, so I wasn't aware of this.
I received SSI immediately within two months after applying. I didn't have to fight or get a lawyer or go to court. When they threw me off of it because I no longer qualified for SSI because my Mom left me money, I was left without anything. When I asked if I could get my work related record SSDI they told me NO because it's past my insured date. This has been why I've been fighting for years now to get my SSDI because I have to prove I was disabled even before my last insured date. I have plenty of proof, but many judges are looking for anything & everything they can use against someone to justify not giving it to them.
There are medical files, hospital stays, and many things someone cannot get a hold of with people's personal business. The same should be true regarding someone's personal social security accounts & disability cases. The courts have ALLOWED this to further punish someone if they disagree with a judge's decision in turning them down. In some people's cases maybe it wouldn't hurt them! In my case it is very hurtful because I want to protect my innocent family who has nothing to do with my claim. They are mentioned in my denial and this isn't right or fair to them.
I would think someone could continue applying for SSI again & again as long as they can qualify with low income. Someone can keep applying for SSDI if they are still within the insured date. They can still apply after the insured date, but it will much more difficult to prove & be approved. It has happened before in some cases, just like veterans have proven their disabilities happened from many years ago. That's fine if they need to punish me & make it more difficult to get, but leave my family out of it, what was said could very much harm them.
