Fee Agreement

Federal law requires that a representative who wins a disability claim under the Social Security Act receive authorization from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to charge and collect a fee from you for services provided. The fee agreement is the document that states what you have agreed to pay your appointed representative for assistance with a filing a disability claim under the Social Security Act. The document must be signed by you and your representative to show that you both have agreed to the terms. If a favorable decision is issued for your disability claim, then the SSA will review the Fee Agreement to ensure it meets the statutory requirements before authorizing your representative to collect a fee.

Fee agreements are not forms that the Social Security Administration (SSA) creates or maintains. Instead, the SSA has created statutory conditions that a fee agreement must meet to be considered valid. Representatives draft their own fee agreements to comply with the standards set by the SSA, so fee agreement terms, although similar in certain aspects, may differ from firm to firm.

The SSA offers model fee agreement language on its website, which can be found here.

The Fee Agreement used by Disability Specialists is located here.