Understanding Unemployment

Collecting unemployment can have an impact on a claimant's AOD. When applying for unemployment, a person must attest that they are able to work a full-time job, however, no jobs are available despite a reasonable attempt to find one. When applying for disability, a claimant is alleging that he or she cannot work due to a severe disability. The act of collecting unemployment can therefore impact a disability claim because the claimant is essentially admitting they are able to work while also contending they cannot. If that person later states to SSA that they were not truly able to work when collecting unemployment, that person is essentially admitting they have lied which will adversely affect their credibility. 

If you have not yet filed for disability and you are currently collecting unemployment, you should consider waiting until your unemployment benefits runs out OR you choose to stop collecting unemployment before applying for disability.