Will EDD SDI backdate payments to injury date or doctor certification date?
I slipped on some water at work and tore a ligament in my knee about 3 weeks ago (March 3rd). I've been off work since then, but I just finally got in to see a specialist today who agreed I can't work and is submitting the SDI paperwork. My question is - will EDD backdate my disability payments to when I actually got injured (minus the waiting period), or will they only start paying from today when the doctor submitted the paperwork? I've been without income for almost a month now and really need to know if I'll get backpay for these weeks. My HR department was useless and just told me to ask EDD directly but I can't get through on the phone. Anyone know how this works?
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Fatima Al-Sayed
Yes, EDD will backdate your payments to your actual disability start date, as long as your doctor certifies that date correctly on your medical certification form. Just make sure your doctor puts March 3rd as your disability start date on the form. Your waiting period would be the first 7 days after that date. So payments would start from around March 11th, assuming your claim gets approved. That's why it's crucial your doctor puts the correct start date on the form - not today's date.
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Giovanni Marino
AuthorThank you so much! That's a huge relief. The doctor did confirm he's putting March 3rd as the start date. Do you know if there's any way I can check that he submitted everything correctly? I'm really anxious about this.
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Dylan Hughes
when i broke my ankle last yr they backdated it to my injury day but my dr submitted paperwork like 2 days after it happened not 3 wks later, might be different 4 u
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Giovanni Marino
AuthorThat's concerning. Did you have any issues with them questioning the gap between injury and paperwork filing?
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NightOwl42
The key here is what date your doctor puts as your "date of disability" on the DE 2501 form. As long as he certifies that your disability began on March 3rd, you should be fine. The claims examiner will review this and determine if it's medically appropriate. One word of warning though - since there's a 3-week gap between your injury and seeing the specialist, make sure you can document that you were seeking treatment during this time (like if you went to urgent care or your regular doctor first). Sometimes EDD will question large gaps between injury date and medical certification.
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Giovanni Marino
AuthorThat's helpful information. I did go to urgent care right after it happened and they referred me to the specialist, but there was a long wait for an appointment. I have the urgent care paperwork - should I submit that to EDD too or just let them know if they ask?
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Sofia Rodriguez
I HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM last year!!! My doctor put the wrong date on my form and it took FOREVER to fix. Called EDD like 50 times and either got hung up on or waited 3+ hours. The SDI system is BROKEN!!
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NightOwl42
This is why it's so important to verify what your doctor puts on the form before it gets submitted. Once incorrect information is in the system, it can take weeks to correct.
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Dmitry Ivanov
If you're having trouble getting through to an EDD representative, you might want to try Claimyr. I used them when I had problems with my disability claim last month. They got me connected to an actual EDD agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. Their website is claimyr.com and you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/1X-mEsLtbmQ?si=1hcSq3KFtCr4oAmd Regarding your actual question - yes, you'll get backpay to your injury date (after the 7-day waiting period) as long as your doctor certifies that date properly. Just make sure to check your SDI Online account in a few days to verify the correct dates are showing up once your claim is processed.
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Giovanni Marino
AuthorThanks for the Claimyr tip - I'll check it out if I can't get through tomorrow. And good idea about checking my SDI Online account, I didn't realize I could verify the dates there.
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Ava Thompson
Just went thru this in January - the waiting period is the first 7 days from your disability date (NOT from when u filed). So if ur disability started March 3, waiting period is March 3-9, and benefits would start March 10. BUT - big issue could be the 3 week gap between injury and doctor certification. When I had a 2 week gap they made me do a phone interview and I had to explain why. Just be ready to explain why it took 3 weeks to see the doctor.
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Giovanni Marino
AuthorGood to know about the phone interview possibility. I'll gather my referral paperwork and be ready to explain the appointment wait time. Did they eventually approve your claim with the full backpay?
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Ava Thompson
Yeah they did approve my backdated claim but it took almost 2 extra weeks because of that phone interview. Just make sure u answer all their calls even if u don't recognize the number because they only try twice before putting ur claim on hold.
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Miguel Herrera
wait, i thought the rule was you have to file within 49 days of your disability starting, not that the doctor has to certify right away? as long as you're within that window you should be fine?
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Fatima Al-Sayed
You're right about the 49-day filing window. The issue isn't about filing too late (OP is well within the 49 days). The potential issue is that there's a gap between the claimed disability start date and the first medical certification, which sometimes triggers extra verification from EDD. But as long as there's medical documentation from the urgent care visit on the injury date, it should be fine.
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Giovanni Marino
Update: My doctor confirmed he put March 3rd as my disability start date and I just checked my SDI Online account - my claim is showing as received! The disability start date shows correctly as March 3rd. Now I'm just waiting for it to be processed. Huge relief to know I'll get backpay for these weeks once it's approved. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Dmitry Ivanov
Great news! Just be prepared that they might still contact you about the gap between injury and medical certification. If they do, just explain about the urgent care visit and specialist referral wait time. Keep us posted on how it goes!
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Sarah Jones
That's awesome news about your claim showing up correctly in the system! I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - injured my back at work 2 weeks ago and just got my doctor's certification yesterday. Reading through all these responses has been super helpful, especially knowing about the potential phone interview if there's a gap between injury and certification. I'm keeping all my initial treatment records just in case. Hope your claim gets approved quickly and you get that backpay soon!
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