What Is the Social Security Disability 5-Year Rule?

The so-called “five-year rule” for Social Security disability allows people who have already received disability benefits to skip a required waiting period in the re-application process after they’ve returned to work. It lets you start receiving cash benefits for six months while the Social Security Administration figures out whether you qualify for disability benefits again.

There’s no official “five-year rule,” but the phrase refers to a process called “expedited reinstatement,” or EXR. You can file for EXR if you received disability benefits within the past five years, stopped collecting those benefits and need to apply for disability benefits again. That way, you don’t have to start a brand new application.

The five-year rule is meant to make things easier for those who have worked intermittently but have a disability that, more than once within five years, prevents them from working. Because of that, EXR is only available if you’re applying for disability benefits for a condition that is the same or related to the condition that initially qualified you for benefits.

While the Social Security Administration figures out whether you qualify for disability benefits again, it can give you temporary benefits for up to six months.

Here’s what to know about how to qualify — and requalify — for Social Security disability insurance, or SSDI, benefits.

» Learn more: Can you get Social Security retirement and disability at the same time?

SSDI benefits have strict rules around who qualifies. These include rules regarding how long you have been disabled, when you apply and how long you worked before you became unable to work due to a qualifying disability.

Generally, you’re entitled to disability benefits if you meet all of the following requirements:

• You have a qualifying disability. The Social Security Administration, or SSA,  defines disability as a “medically determinable physical or mental impairment” that has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months. This condition must make you unable to do the work you did before or any other “substantial gainful work that exists in the national economy.”^[0]

  SSA.gov. Basic definition of disability. Accessed Apr 13, 2023.

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  Different rules apply if you are blind or applying for survivors benefits.

• You apply for SSDI benefits before your full retirement age. Full retirement age for Social Security is the age at which a person is entitled to 100% of their monthly Social Security retirement benefit. It ranges from 66 to 67. The SSA determines a person’s full retirement age based on their birth year^[0]

  SSA.gov. Who is entitled to disability benefits?. Accessed Apr 13, 2023.

  View all sources

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• You worked for at least five of the 10 years before your disability. Social Security awards people “credits” when they work and pay Social Security taxes. The SSA refers to qualifying with credits as being “insured” for your disability. You can earn up to four credits per year of work. SSDI benefits require 40 work credits to qualify, 20 of which you earned within the 10 years before your disability. Workers earn a credit, known as a “quarter of coverage,” for every $1,730 on which they pay Social Security taxes in 2024.

• You have been disabled for five consecutive months. Due to this rule, you’ll receive your first benefit payment starting in the sixth month after you apply. However, if you’re found to have been eligible for SSDI benefits earlier due to disability onset, you can receive retroactive payments for up to the previous 12 months.  If you previously received SSDI benefits within the past five years, the SSDI five-year rule waives the five-month waiting period, so you can resume benefits immediately.

» Learn more: Will my disability benefits change at retirement age?

You may be eligible for expedited reinstatement, which allows some people to skip the application process for SSDI benefits, if you’re an SSI or SSDI beneficiary and:

• You’re unable to work or perform work-related activities. 

• You’ve stopped receiving SSDI benefits because of earnings from work.

• You are applying for SSDI benefits due to a condition that is the same or related to the one that initially qualified you for benefits.

• You’re filing for benefits within five years from the month that you stopped receiving benefits.

Before applying for EXR, though, qualified individuals typically have to complete a few of the SSA’s work incentives, which are intended to keep people eligible for continued cash benefits until they’re able to fully return to work.

If you’re eligible for EXR, reach out to your local Social Security office. They’ll be able to help you apply for EXR or the appropriate work incentive, as well as how to submit any work history or medical records.

Before you can file for an expedited reinstatement of your SSDI benefits, you must first complete these work incentives:

• Trial Work Period (TWP): A TWP is designed to test your ability to fully return to work for nine months (not necessarily consecutive). There isn’t a formal application process for a TWP. Instead, when an SSDI beneficiary earns $1,100 or more in a single month in 2024, their TWP automatically begins. The TWP continues until you work nine “service months” (in which you earned at least $1,100 from work) within a rolling, 60-month period.For self-employed beneficiaries, working more than 80 hours in a month also qualifies as a “service month.” During your TWP, you’ll continue to receive your full SSDI benefit payments, regardless of how much money you earn working. Once you’ve worked your ninth “service month” in a 60-month period, your TWP ends.

• Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE): Once you’ve completed your TWP, you’ll begin your 36-month EPE. During this time, the SSA will continue to evaluate your earnings to determine benefits eligibility. The SSA will evaluate those earnings based on “substantial gainful activity,” or SGA. For individuals who are blind or visually impaired, SGA is $2,409 for a single month. For individuals who are not blind or visually impaired, SGA is $1,550.During your EPE, you’ll receive your regular SSDI payments, as long as your monthly earnings fall below SGA levels and you continue to qualify for disability benefits. If your monthly earnings meet or exceed SGA levels during your EPE, the SSA will consider you ineligible for disability benefits. You’ll be paid SSDI benefits for that month, and the following two months.After that two-month grace period, if your monthly earnings fall below SGA levels and you’re still within the 36-month EPE, the SSA can start reissuing your benefits without a new application.

If your benefits end during the EPE because your income exceeds SGA levels, you’re eligible to apply for an EXR later if:

• You’re still within the five-year window of no longer receiving your original SSDI benefits. 

• Your monthly income is under the SGA threshold.

Your disability benefit payment from Social Security depends on your lifetime earnings. The SSA website has a calculator to estimate your monthly benefit payment.

» Learn more: Estimate your Social Security retirement benefits with our free calculator

For new SSDI beneficiaries, the SSA recommends applying for disability benefits as soon as you become disabled. However, you may be able to receive back-paid benefits for up to the previous 12 months.^[0]

Here’s how to apply:

• Fill out an application on the Social Security website.

• Call the SSA phone line at 800-772-1213 or TTY 800-325-0778.

• Visit your nearest Social Security office.

You can help someone else apply for disability benefits without being an authorized representative. You may need to answer additional questions about your relationship to the benefit recipient, and the recipient will need to electronically or physically sign the application^[0]