How To File An Unfair Treatment Complaint

The Social Security Administration wants to treat fairly and equally all claimants and their representatives. We do not treat you differently because of your race, sex, age or disability, the amount of money you have, or any other reason. Below we tell you more about what you should do if you think the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who conducted your hearing treated you unfairly.

What you should do if you think you were treated unfairly

If you think any ALJ treated you unfairly, you should tell us about it and ask us to look into it. You can ask at any time, even while we are deciding your claims for benefits. If you think the ALJ who will conduct your hearing is not fair, you can ask for another ALJ to hear your claim.

You should give us your complaint in writing. But you also can tell us about your complaint, and we will write it down for you. Please give us as many details as you can, including:

• Your name, address, and telephone number;
• Your Social Security number;
• Whether you are the claimant or you are making the complaint for someone else;
• The name, address and telephone number of the person you are making the complaint for (if not for yourself);
• How you think you were unfairly treated, and who treated you unfairly;
• When you think you were unfairly treated; and
• Who else saw or heard the unfair treatment.

Also please tell what actions or words you thought were unfair.

Where to send your request

Anyone in this office or any other Social Security office can help you make your complaint. You also can write to:

The Chief Administrative Law Judge
Office of Hearings and Appeals
5107 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041-3255

What will Social Security do

First, we will let you know promptly that we received your complaint. Someone who has not been handling your claim before will look into the information you gave us in your complaint. After we do this, we will let you know the results.

If you are appealing your claim, the Appeals Council will look into your complaint as part of your appeal. The results of the review will be part of the decision on your appeal.

If you are still not satisfied

If you think that we are not doing all we have said we would do, please write to:

Special Counsel
Office of Hearings and Appeals
5107 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041-3255

Contacting Social Security

Our website is a valuable resource for information about all of Social Security’s programs. There are a number of things you can do online.

In addition to using our website, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213. We can answer specific questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. We can provide information by automated phone service 24 hours a day. (You can use our automated response system to tell us a new address or request a replacement Medicare card.) If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

We treat all calls confidentially. We also want to make sure you receive accurate and courteous service. That is why we have a second Social Security representative monitor some telephone calls.