Legal Question in Social Security Law in California

Penalty interest on unpaid disability compensation

I was awarded disability compensation by Office of Hearing and Appeals dated 23 March 2004 with effective date of 1 July 1997. The SSA only paid half of benefits and I am still owed Approx. $43,000. Can I make a claim for Penalty interest on the unpaid balance such as is done by the IRS, If and when I get the balance of Disability Benefits. I believe the SSA is in breach of the Decision and has not complied with the court ruling.


Asked on 8/11/04, 6:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Candace Davenport Law Offices of Candace C. Davenport

Re: Penalty interest on unpaid disability compensation

Unfortunately, there are no provisions for you to be paid penalty interest on moneys owed you from the SSA.

In addition, although you have not raised this as an issue, there may be a reason why you have not received the money you believe you are entitled to. The law says that the furthest back that you can receive payment for disability benefits, is one year prior to your date of application, even if the judge found you disabled before that time. Therefore for example, if you applied on March 15, 2002, the most you could receive in payment would be from March 15, 2001, even though the judge found you disabled back to 1997. Since I do not know when you applied, I do not know if this is applicable to your case, but it could be a reason why you only received a lesser amount than what you had calculated.

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Answered on 8/11/04, 8:18 pm


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