Generally, you will be contacted by a disability examiner within a few weeks of filing your claim. This is because, during the processing of your case, the examiner will often have questions about one or more of your medical treatment sources, some aspect of your work history, or will need to gather additional information about the daily activities that you engage in.

If your disability claim requires a consultative examination (usually, a CE, or consultative exam, is ordered when your records show that you have not been seen by a medical professional within the last 90 days), you may hear from the examiner even sooner. If you have not received any contact in a few weeks, of course, it is, at that point, not a bad idea to check the status of your disability claim.

This can be done by contacting your local Social Security office where you filed, by calling the toll free Social Security number, or by calling the disability examiner working on your case. Unfortunately, the toll free line is a poor source of information and, even worse, is often a source of incorrect information, so it is not advisable to use it. Calling the Social Security field office is not much more productive since the only answer they will be able to give you with regard to the status of your case is that the case is still pending, or undecided. The most productive option is to call the office that is actually working on your SSD or SSI claim.