I read the answer to the question you gave regarding AutoConversion of SSDI to SSRI. You stated that the person might receive a higher payment after conversion based on his earnings. I am currently in this situation. Only complicated by my previous employer’s insurance company and their agent, GenEx. I was on private disability through work, and due to a clause disclosed to me after being on LTD for a year, I was forced to apply for SSDI to reimburse Guardian, the insurer. By the time the favorable judgement was rendered, I was full age of retirement. SSA tells me the I will be frozen at the SSDI payment rate for the rest of my life. Which is $3-400 a month less than I would be earning on my own rate of SSRI. Guardian wants their money is fighting with me to proceed. I want to refuse the disability payment Bea cause of the loss of income it causes for my future. I suspended my SSRI benefit at age 65, planning to start at an older age. Even with the suspension in place, I am told, that if I collect the retroactive disability insurance to reimburse Guardian, up until my full age of retirement, it will still stop my earned income credits from accruing. Either way I lose future income. I am afraid to fight my previous employer, Guardian and GenEx. They are large corporations who don’t care about my loss. The reimbursement clause was not mentioned during my hiring process or at anytime during the first 2 years of disability. Only that I was required to file. I had no idea of the repercussions of this clause. ‘ should be a benefit to all employees, not only the younger ones. I feel like I am being discriminated against because I worked all my life and then needed disability at the end of my career. Do you have any suggestions in this unusual situation? Do you know how frequently this happens to seniors? Is this a situation that needs to be addressed with all workers approaching the age of retirement?

Hi,

I'm not sure which previous answer you're referencing, but it's very rare for a person's benefit rate to increase when their Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits convert to Social Security retirement benefits at their full retirement age (FRA). In fact, that can only happen if the person had earnings after they became disabled. And, even then it would be extremely rare to see any kind of a significant rate increase.

A person's benefit amount could also increase at FRA if their SSDI benefits were being offset due to the receipt of workers compensation benefits or a public disability benefit (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10018.pdf), but that's because the offset is removed, not due to a rate change. It doesn't sound like that's involved in your case, though.

It's certainly not unusual for long term disability (LTD) insurance plans to contain provisions requiring the insured individual to apply for SSDI, and for their LTD payments to be reduced by the amount of their SSDI benefit. In fact I think it's rare for those plans not to contain such a provision, be they private plans or employer group plans.

You don't mention your age or other material information, so it's difficult for me to be able to give you any kind of a personalized answer. You do say that you suspended your Social Security retirement benefits at age 65, but you aren't allowed to voluntarily suspend Social Security retirement benefits prior to FRA. So, I don't really know where you're at with regard to benefits. What I can tell you, however, is that you CAN voluntarily suspend your benefits at FRA or later in order to accrue delayed retirement credits (DRC) up until the age of 70, regardless of whether or not you were paid SSDI benefits prior to FRA (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202409110). Therefore, if that's the type of benefit rate increase you're referring to, then you may not have a reason for concern.

Best, Jerry