Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville Disability Lawyers for Social Security Claims in North Alabama
Social Security's office locator assigns Huntsville, Madison and Scottsboro ZIP codes to the Huntsville field office at 4970 Research Drive NW, and its hearing office data places that office on the list of the Florence, Alabama hearing office. Athens and Decatur addresses go through the Decatur field office to a hearing office in Franklin, Tennessee, and Albertville, Guntersville and Arab ZIP codes go through the Albertville field office to Birmingham.
Downard & Associates represents adults across Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Marshall and Jackson counties with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims at every stage Social Security decides: the application, reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We are based in Lebanon, Tennessee and represent North Alabama clients by phone or video, with no fee unless you win.
The local office
The Huntsville Social Security Office on Research Drive
Check the return address on your own letters before you mail anything.
Social Security's office locator lists the Huntsville field office at 4970 Research Drive NW, Huntsville, AL 35805, open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and closed on weekends. Its phone number is 1-866-593-0665 and its fax is 1-833-950-3503. The locator shows benefits applications, new or replacement cards, updates to personal information, appeals and a drop box as available there, and it lets you make an appointment before you go.
The locator gives a different mailing address for this office: Social Security, NRC / FO 632, PO Box 416000, Kansas City, MO 64141. Check the return address on your own letters before you mail anything.
The field office takes applications and appeal requests, but it does not decide hearings. The hearing office follows your home address, and Social Security's hearing office data puts the Huntsville field office on the Florence list, so a hearing request from a Huntsville address generally goes to Florence.
How we help
SSDI and SSI Claims Our Huntsville Disability Attorneys Handle
SSDI is usually paid on your own record of work covered by Social Security; some disabled adult children and widows or widowers are paid on a parent's or spouse's record. SSI does not depend on work history; it is a need-based payment limited by your income and countable resources. Both use the same adult disability standard, and you can ask for both when you apply. Our Alabama disability lawyer page covers the state's other hearing offices.
We have no Huntsville office; consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys appear at hearings from Tennessee by phone or video, so your attorney joins remotely even if you attend in person. Our clients are adults, 18 or older. A veteran who already receives VA benefits can hire us for an SSDI claim, though VA claims and VA appeals themselves are outside our practice, as are continuing disability reviews, cessation cases and cases where back pay is the only issue. If a case needs federal court, we refer it to affiliated counsel.
Hearing offices
Three Hearing Office Lists for Huntsville and Its Neighbors
That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move.
The data behind Social Security's hearing office locator splits North Alabama this way:
Florence, AL, at Walnut Street Executive Center, 204 South Walnut Street, Suite D: the Cullman, Florence and Huntsville field offices.
Franklin, TN, at Suite 350, 6840 Carothers Parkway: the Decatur field office and six Tennessee offices, Columbia, Jackson, Lawrenceburg, McMinnville, Murfreesboro and Selmer. Our Franklin disability lawyer page covers the Tennessee side.
Birmingham, AL: the Albertville field office and seven others, including Bessemer, Gadsden and Tuscaloosa. The office is on the 1st Floor at 1200 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Field offices by area
Which Field Office Serves Your North Alabama ZIP Code
The locator works by ZIP code, not by city limits, so treat the place names below as rough labels. The lists are samples rather than full service areas, and Social Security can reassign a ZIP code, so look up your own street address before you count on any of it.
Huntsville, 4970 Research Drive NW (Florence hearing office): 35801 through 35806, 35808, 35810, 35811, 35816, 35824, 35896 and 35898 (Huntsville area), 35756, 35757 and 35758 (Madison), 35741 (Brownsboro), 35748 (Gurley), 35749 (Harvest), 35750 (Hazel Green), 35759 (Meridianville), 35761 (New Market), 35763 (Owens Cross Roads), 35773 (Toney), and in Jackson County 35768 and 35769 (Scottsboro) and 35740 (Bridgeport).
Decatur, 717 McGlathery Ln SE (Franklin, TN hearing office): 35601 and 35603 (Decatur), 35611, 35613 and 35614 (Athens), 35620 (Elkmont), 35671 (Tanner), 35739 (Ardmore), 35640 (Hartselle), 35622 (Falkville), 35670 (Somerville) and 35673 (Trinity).
Albertville, 406 Martling Rd (Birmingham hearing office): 35950 and 35951 (Albertville), 35957 (Boaz), 35976 (Guntersville), 35016 (Arab) and 35175 (Union Grove).
Neighboring cities
Madison and Athens: Neighboring Cities, Different Hearing Offices
Madison ZIP codes 35756, 35757 and 35758 are assigned to the Huntsville field office, so a Madison hearing request generally goes to Florence. The locator assigns the Athens ZIP codes 35611, 35613 and 35614 to the Decatur field office, and the Decatur office is on the Franklin, Tennessee list.
A Tennessee hearing office does not change the federal rules your claim is decided under. What changes is the office named on your hearing letters, so tell Social Security right away about any move between these areas during a pending claim, and read the next notice for the office it names.
Local treatment records
Records From Huntsville Hospital, Crestwood and the Huntsville VA Clinic
Huntsville Hospital: its medical records page has separate online request links for Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, Madison Hospital and Huntsville Hospital Physician Network. The patient tool checks identity with a phone or webcam photo of a photo ID, and a separate online option is for health care providers, attorneys and other third parties. Mail requests go to the Medical Records Department, 101 Sivley Road, Huntsville, AL 35801, with the hospital's authorization form, and the page gives (256) 265-8149 for problems with an online request and (256) 265-8934 for radiology images.
Crestwood Medical Center: the Crestwood records page accepts requests by phone, by mail, online or by drop-off at 4790 Whitesport Circle, with separate links for the hospital and for Crestwood Medical Group. Its online patient tool is for patients and legal guardians, and another option is for providers, attorneys and other third parties. Mail goes to Release of Information, One Hospital Dr. SW, Huntsville, AL 35801, and the phone number is 256-429-5588.
Huntsville VA Clinic: the clinic at 500 Markaview Road NW is part of VA Birmingham health care, whose medical records office page offers online access to your VA records. You can also mail a signed VA Form 10-5345a to its Release of Information office, or bring it, with your Veteran Health Identification Card, to that office on the second floor of the Birmingham VA Medical Center, 700 South 19th Street, where staff can also give you the form. The VA page puts processing at up to 20 business days.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Huntsville Disability Claim
To object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
Huntsville, Madison and Athens Disability Claim Questions
Does the Huntsville Social Security office handle my disability hearing?
The Huntsville field office on Research Drive takes applications and appeal requests, but the hearing is handled by a hearing office chosen by your home address, and for addresses the locator gives to the Huntsville field office that is generally Florence. The hearing itself may be in person, by phone, by agency video from a Social Security site or, with your agreement, by online video. Your Notice of Hearing states which, and gives the address for an in-person or agency video appearance.
What are the hours of the Huntsville Social Security office?
The locator lists Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed Saturday and Sunday, with phone 1-866-593-0665. Hours can change and offices sometimes close for weather or other events, so check the locator before you go.
Why does an Athens address have a hearing office in Tennessee?
The locator assigns Athens ZIP codes 35611, 35613 and 35614 to the Decatur field office, and Social Security's hearing office data puts the Decatur office on the Franklin, Tennessee list. Huntsville and Madison ZIP codes go to Florence instead.
Do Guntersville and Arab use the Huntsville Social Security office?
Not under the locator's ZIP code assignments. It assigns 35976 (Guntersville) and 35016 (Arab) to the Albertville field office at 406 Martling Rd, which is on the Birmingham hearing office list. A street-address search at ssa.gov/locator settles it for your home.
Discuss your claim
Get a Free Review of Your Huntsville Disability Claim
Reach us at (615) 255-4307 or through the free review form; replies come within 3 business hours. It helps to have the notice Social Security sent you, the day it arrived and the names of your doctors and hospitals on hand.