Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola Social Security Disability Lawyers for SSI and SSDI Claims
Social Security's office locator assigns Pensacola ZIP codes to the Pensacola field office at 411 W Garden Street, which takes applications and handles other field office business. A hearing request is generally assigned to an office in another state: Social Security's hearing office data puts the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach field offices on the list of the Mobile, Alabama hearing office, at Suite 200, 550 Government Street. The hearing itself can be held in person, by phone, by agency video at a Social Security office or, if you agree, by online video, and you can object in writing to a phone or agency video hearing.
Downard & Associates represents adults in Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties with Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims, from the first application through reconsideration, the hearing and Appeals Council review. Our attorneys work by phone or video from Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
SSI and SSDI Claims Our Pensacola Disability Attorneys Handle
You can apply for both at the same time, and Social Security decides each one.
SSI and SSDI use the same adult disability test but pay for different reasons. SSDI is insurance earned through work covered by Social Security, while SSI is a need-based payment that does not require a work record, so your income and countable resources decide whether it is paid and how much. You can apply for both at the same time, and Social Security decides each one.
For SSI, Florida's Medicaid rules matter too. Social Security's operations manual, POMS SI 01715.010, lists the states that make their own Medicaid decisions for SSI recipients, either under their own rules or under SSI's, and Florida is on neither list, which places it among the states where Social Security makes the Medicaid eligibility decision for people who receive SSI and meet certain citizenship or immigration status rules. Our Florida disability lawyer page covers the rest of the state.
There is no Downard office in Pensacola. Consultations take place by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We take SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits but not VA claims or VA appeals, and we do not take continuing disability review or cessation cases or cases about back pay alone; federal court appeals are referred to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
Why Pensacola Hearings Are Assigned to Mobile, Alabama
The data behind Social Security's hearing office locator gives the Mobile hearing office seven field offices: five in Alabama and two in Florida, Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola. So a hearing request from a ZIP code the locator gives to either Florida office is generally assigned to the Mobile hearing office at Suite 200, 550 Government Street, Mobile, AL 36602. Our Mobile disability lawyer page covers the Alabama side of that list.
Only the far western Panhandle is on the Mobile list. The Panama City and Marianna field offices, farther east, are on the list of the Tallahassee hearing office, along with Tallahassee and Thomasville, Georgia, which our Tallahassee disability lawyer page describes.
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
Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach Field Offices by ZIP Code
The locator assigns Navarre, near the Okaloosa County line, to the Pensacola field office rather than Fort Walton Beach.
Social Security's office locator assigns field offices by ZIP code, so the town names in parentheses are only a guide. These are sample ZIP codes, not complete service areas, and assignments can change, so search your own address before relying on the list.
Pensacola, 411 W Garden Street: in Escambia County, 32501 through 32508, 32514, 32526 and 32534 (Pensacola), 32533 (Cantonment), 32535 (Century), 32568 (McDavid) and 32577 (Molino); in Santa Rosa County, 32561 and 32563 (Gulf Breeze), 32566 (Navarre), 32570, 32571 and 32583 (Milton and Pace) and 32565 (Jay).
Fort Walton Beach, 111-B Racetrack Rd NW: 32547 and 32548 (Fort Walton Beach), 32536 and 32539 (Crestview), 32541 (Destin), 32578 (Niceville), 32579 (Shalimar), 32569 (Mary Esther), 32542 (Eglin AFB), 32544 (Hurlburt Field), 32531 (Baker) and 32567 (Laurel Hill).
The locator lists no Crestview office and assigns Crestview ZIP codes to Fort Walton Beach for field office business. The locator assigns Navarre, near the Okaloosa County line, to the Pensacola field office rather than Fort Walton Beach. Both field offices are on the Mobile hearing office's list.
Across the county line
Destin and Miramar Beach: Neighboring ZIP Codes Served by Different Hearing Offices
Near the Okaloosa and Walton County line, the Mobile list meets the Tallahassee list. The locator assigns 32541 (Destin) to the Fort Walton Beach field office, which is on the Mobile list. It assigns 32550 (Miramar Beach), 32459 (Santa Rosa Beach), 32439 (Freeport), and 32433 and 32435 (the DeFuniak Springs area) to the Panama City field office at 3215 Hwy 77, and Social Security's hearing office data places Panama City on the Tallahassee hearing office's list, at 2nd Floor, 1961 Quail Grove Lane.
If you move across that line while a claim is pending, report the new address to Social Security. The hearing office named on your hearing letters is the one handling your case.
Local treatment records
Records From Baptist, Sacred Heart, Fort Walton-Destin Hospital and the VA
Records from an Ascension Sacred Heart doctor's office come from that clinic, not the hospital.
Baptist Health Care: Baptist's medical records page says to call or visit the location where you were treated or to submit a request online. It lists separate medical records departments for Baptist Hospital (PO Box 17804, Pensacola), Gulf Breeze Hospital (1110 Gulf Breeze Parkway) and Jay Hospital (14114 Alabama Street), each at 448-227-5400. Care at Baptist Medical Park-Nine Mile is requested from the Baptist Hospital department and care at Baptist Medical Park-Navarre from Gulf Breeze Hospital, and imaging records have their own request form.
Ascension Sacred Heart: its patient portal page says most hospital records can be downloaded and printed from the hospital portal, with an online request as another route. Records from an Ascension Sacred Heart doctor's office come from that clinic, not the hospital. The page gives 877-621-8014 for hospital portal help.
HCA Florida Fort Walton-Destin Hospital: the hospital's medical records page offers the MyHealthONE portal, an online request portal, or a signed authorization form sent with a copy of photo ID by fax, email or mail. Radiology images come from the Radiology Department. Requests from an insurer, an attorney or the Disability Determination Service must be mailed, because the page says it does not accept those by fax or email. Questions go to (844) 481-0278.
Pensacola and Eglin VA clinics: the Pensacola VA Clinic at 790 Veterans Way and the Eglin Air Force Base VA Clinic at 100 Veterans Way belong to the VA Gulf Coast system. Its medical records office page lets you view and download VA records online, or take, mail or fax a signed VA Form 10-5345a to the Release of Information office at 400 Veterans Avenue in Biloxi, Mississippi, and it says requests may take up to 20 business days.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a Pensacola 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
Pensacola, Gulf Breeze and Fort Walton Beach Disability Claim Questions
Will my Pensacola disability hearing take place in Mobile?
The case is generally assigned to the Mobile, Alabama hearing office, because the Pensacola field office is on its list, but that does not decide how you appear. Social Security can hold the hearing in person, by agency video, by phone or, if you agree, by online video. If you object in writing on time to both phone and agency video, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video, and the Notice of Hearing tells you how and, for an in-person or agency video hearing, where.
Is there a Social Security office in Crestview?
None appears in the locator's list of nearby offices. It assigns Crestview ZIP codes 32536 and 32539 to the Fort Walton Beach field office at 111-B Racetrack Rd NW, which is on the Mobile hearing office list.
Can I be reimbursed for driving to an in-person hearing in Mobile?
Only when the hearing site is more than 75 miles from your home or office, whichever you travel from, under 20 CFR 404.999c(d) (416.1498(d) for SSI). The same section limits ordinary costs to the most economical transportation suitable to your health, and unusual costs such as meals, lodging or taxis generally need written approval in advance. If the hearing is moved farther away at your request, the added travel cost is not reimbursed.
Do Gulf Breeze and Navarre addresses use the Pensacola Social Security office?
Yes. The locator assigns 32561 and 32563 (Gulf Breeze) and 32566 (Navarre) to the Pensacola field office at 411 W Garden Street. Search your own address at ssa.gov/locator to confirm.
Discuss your claim
Talk With a Pensacola Disability Lawyer by Phone or Video
Call (615) 255-4307 or send the free review form, and we respond within 3 business hours. Keep your ZIP code, any denial or hearing notice with the date it reached you, and a list of the hospitals and clinics that treated you close at hand.