You opened the envelope. The letter says SSA has determined you don’t meet their definition of disability. There’s a paragraph somewhere in there about your right to appeal. There’s a deadline. And depending on how the day was already going, you’re now somewhere between angry, panicked, and wondering whether to call SSA, call a lawyer, or just throw the letter in a drawer and figure it out next week.
Don’t put it in a drawer.
Here’s the most important thing to know up front: most Social Security disability applications get denied at the initial level. A denial doesn’t mean SSA thinks you’re faking. It doesn’t mean your case is bad. It means a state agency examiner — in Colorado, that’s Disability Determination Services in Denver — looked at the file as it stood and decided the evidence didn’t show disability. The vast majority of cases that ultimately win get denied at least once first. So if that’s where you are, take a breath. You’re not at the end of the road. You’re at the start of the second part of it.
This post walks through what you actually need to do next, what the deadlines mean, and the mistakes that turn a denial into a closed case.
The deadline that matters most: 60 days
You have 60 days from the date you receive the denial letter to file an appeal. SSA assumes you received the letter five days after the date printed at the top, unless you can show otherwise. So if your denial is dated April 1, SSA will treat April 6 as the date you received it, and your appeal deadline is roughly June 5.
This is a hard deadline. Not in the sense that it can never be extended — there’s a “good cause” rule we’ll come back to in a minute — but in the sense that you should treat it as if it can’t be. Missing the 60-day window without a strong reason means starting your case over from scratch, which is bad for your back pay, potentially bad for your date last insured, and almost always slower than just filing on time.
If you’re reading this and you’ve already missed the deadline, skip ahead to the section on good cause. There may still be a path.
“Appeal” doesn’t mean what most people think it means
This is one of the most common confusions we hear on calls. People say “I want to appeal,” picturing something like a hearing in front of a judge — and they’re surprised to find out that the next step after an initial denial in Colorado is something called reconsideration, not a hearing.
Here’s how the levels actually work, in order:
- Initial application — what you just got denied on.
- Reconsideration — a different examiner at the same state agency reviews your file again, with any new evidence you submit. Most reconsideration decisions also come back as denials. We’ve written about that here.
- Hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) — this is the level where most cases that win finally get approved. You and your representative appear in front of a judge (often by video or phone, sometimes in person), there’s testimony from a vocational expert, and the judge issues a written decision. Wait times vary, but in Colorado a hearing is usually scheduled around 12 months after you request one. Here’s what to expect.
- Appeals Council — review of an unfavorable hearing decision.
- Federal District Court — the last level, in front of a federal judge.
Most claimants don’t get past the second level on their own. The hearing is where the math changes — that’s where having a representative who knows the listings, the grid rules, and the local ALJs starts to matter a lot.
What to do this week
Concretely, here’s the short list:
- Save the denial letter. Keep the envelope it came in if at all possible. The postmark sometimes matters.
- Read the letter carefully — once. It will tell you what SSA decided, why, and what your appeal rights are. The “why” is buried in language about whether you can still do “your past relevant work” or “other work that exists in significant numbers.” Don’t take that personally; it’s a legal phrase, not a personal judgment.
- Note the deadline. Calendar it. Set a reminder a week before.
- Don’t reapply. A surprising number of people respond to a denial by starting a brand-new application. Don’t. You almost always lose ground that way — back pay, onset date, and sometimes eligibility itself. Appeal first.
- Get the file. You’re entitled to your full SSA disability file, including the examiner’s notes and any consultative exam reports. We’ve written a step-by-step here.
- Call a lawyer before reconsideration, not after. A lot of claimants try recon on their own and only call when they’re denied a second time. Recon is winnable, especially with the right evidence added at the right time. Bringing a representative in earlier means the case starts being built for hearing — which is the level it most likely needs to be won at — from now, not 14 months from now.
What changed since your initial application?
This is the most useful question to ask before filing the recon. It almost always reveals new evidence that should be in the file:
- Have you seen new specialists since the application?
- Have you had new imaging, lab work, surgeries, hospitalizations, or ER visits?
- Have you started new medications, or changed dosages?
- Has your treating doctor written anything specific about your work limitations?
- Have your symptoms gotten worse?
- Have you been diagnosed with anything new?
SSA’s examiner reviewed a snapshot of your file as of the day they decided. Three to six months may have passed since then. Anything that’s changed is the strongest argument for why the second look should come out differently.
If you’ve missed the 60-day deadline
SSA will accept a late appeal if you can show “good cause” for missing the deadline. The relevant regulation is 20 CFR § 404.911, and the agency has a relatively long list of accepted reasons. Some of the more common ones:
- You were seriously ill or hospitalized and couldn’t have reasonably contacted SSA.
- A close family member died or was seriously ill.
- You didn’t receive the denial notice (this happens).
- SSA gave you incorrect or incomplete information about your appeal rights.
- A physical, mental, educational, or language limitation kept you from filing on time.
- You sent the appeal to the wrong agency in good faith and it didn’t reach SSA in time.
Good cause is more likely to be granted the closer to the original deadline you act. Two weeks late with a hospital admission record is a much easier case than a year late with a vague explanation. If you’re past the deadline, file the appeal anyway, attach a written statement explaining why it’s late, and let SSA decide.
If SSA denies the late filing, you’ll be looking at starting over with a new application — which is a worse outcome but rarely a complete dead end. Whether to fight the late-filing denial or just refile is a strategic call worth making with a lawyer. The right answer depends on your date last insured, how much potential back pay you’d lose, and how strong the medical record is.
Common mistakes after a denial
The mistakes that hurt cases the most after a denial, in our experience:
- Reapplying instead of appealing. Already mentioned, worth saying twice. A new application resets the clock and usually costs you back pay. The denial doesn’t mean you have to start over; it means you have to appeal.
- Stopping treatment. Some claimants get denied and feel demoralized enough to skip appointments. SSA reads treatment gaps as evidence the condition isn’t that bad, even if your real reason is exhaustion or money or both.
- Going back to work to “see if I can.” Trying to work after a denial can affect your case in ways most people don’t anticipate — substantial gainful activity (SGA) earnings can disqualify you outright, and even unsuccessful work attempts have to be carefully documented to avoid hurting the claim. Talk to a lawyer first.
- Submitting only the same evidence again. If reconsideration is reviewing the same file, with no new doctor visits, no new specialist opinions, no new imaging — there’s not a lot of reason to expect a different outcome. The file needs to be different the second time.
- Missing the recon deadline because you’re waiting on something. File the appeal on time even if your evidence package isn’t perfect. Evidence can be added after; the deadline can’t be.
What this looks like in Colorado
Reconsiderations on Colorado claims are decided by examiners at Disability Determination Services in Denver. The decision usually takes three to five months. If recon is denied — and statistically, most are — your hearing request goes to the SSA hearing office that covers your area. For most of the Front Range, Western Slope, and southern Colorado, that’s the Denver hearing office. New Mexico claimants are scheduled out of Albuquerque. Following SSA’s late-2025 reorganization into five regional Hearings Hubs, the administrative structure looks slightly different than it did a couple of years ago, but the practical experience for the claimant — the wait, the hearing format, the kinds of decisions — has not changed materially.
Hearing wait times in Colorado are currently running roughly 10–14 months from request to hearing date, though this fluctuates. Plan accordingly. The case you submit at recon is, in many ways, the case you’ll be living with at hearing — so do recon right.
One last thing about cost
A lot of people don’t call a disability lawyer after a denial because they assume they can’t afford it. SSDI representation in Colorado, like everywhere else in the country, is contingent — meaning the attorney doesn’t get paid unless you win, and the fee is paid out of your back pay (not out of your future monthly checks). The fee is regulated by SSA: 25% of back pay, capped at a federally set maximum. There’s nothing to pay up front. If we don’t win, we don’t get paid. That’s not a marketing line; it’s a federal rule.
If the cost is the only reason you haven’t called, call. The conversation is free.
If you’re in Colorado and you’ve just been denied
At Viner Disability Law, our practice is exclusively Social Security disability — initial application through federal court. We represent claimants across Colorado and New Mexico, and we’d rather hear from you while the 60-day window is still open than after it’s closed. Either way, we’ll tell you straight what we think the file needs and whether it’s something we can help with.
Call 720-515-9012 for a free consultation, or schedule a time online. Bring the denial letter.
Related guide: Read the comprehensive guide →