Filing Appeals By Telephone

Social Security has announced that appeals may now be filed by telephone. This is a significant step forward. In the past many claimants thought they had filed an appeal when they talked with Social Security on the telephone and were then shocked to discover that nothing happened on the appeal they thought they had filed -- because the telephone conversation was not an appeal, but merely a request for appeal forms that might or might not ever arrive, or which the claimant might or might not ever complete and return. This is effective immediately, although it is doubtful that many Social Security employees have been notified.