Win an SSDI claim after the first denial

  1. Read the denial notice and name the exact reason
    45 min

    This step turns the denial letter into one sentence you can act on: which of the five steps of SSA's sequential evaluation you lost on. The letter's opening line — “we cannot find that you are disabled” — is boilerplate; the real reason sits deeper, and it is always one of five steps: you are working above the substantial-gainful-activity level, your impairment is not severe, it does not meet or equal a listing, you can do your past work, or you can do other work.

    1. Note the notice date from page one — SSA treats you as having received the letter five days later.
    2. Find the decision section, usually headed “Why we made our decision” or shown as a step-by-step table.
    3. Copy the letter's exact sentence stating the reason — for example “your condition is not severe enough to keep you from working.”
    4. Map that sentence to a step number: step 1 is working above substantial gainful activity, step 2 is not severe, step 3 is no listing match, step 4 is past work, step 5 is other work.
    5. Write one paragraph: your condition, the letter's reason, the step number, and what kind of evidence would have changed that step.
    6. Save the paragraph with the notice date in your appeal folder.