Disability Benefit Tip of the Week: Documenting Your Correspondence

In order to ensure that your insurance company and Social Security received any letters, forms, or records that you sent, it is a good idea to use the following guidelines:

• Send everything via certified mail, return receipt requested
• If you do fax something, save the confirmation page
• Keep copies of everything you send to the insurance company or Social Security, including reports and forms you fill out
• Keep notes about who you speak with, including their name, phone number and extension, the date, and the time, as well as what you discussed
• Use some kind of organizational system, such as folders or a three-ring binder, to store and sort any correspondence. Keeping paperwork in order according to date is also a good idea. If you need to hire an attorney in the future, it will help him or her quickly understand the progress of your claim.

Keeping copies of any forms that you fill out will help you stay consistent when the insurance company or Social Security asks you to fill out similar forms in the future.

REMEMBER: You cannot be too thorough in documenting and tracking your claim. It is better to have too much information than not enough.

Copyright (c) 2008 by John V. Tucker and Tucker & Ludin, P.A. All rights reserved. For assistance with your Long Term Disability claim, ERISA Disability benefit claim, Social Security Disability claim, or Veterans Disability compensation or pension claim, call Disability Lawyer John Tucker at (866) 282-5260.