Applying for disability benefits can be overwhelming. There’s a lot of paperwork with confusing and intrusive questions. At some points, you may feel like the process is governed by mysterious rules that everyone except you seems to know. Don’t worry. We’re here to help you get through it.
In this article, we’ll cover the Social Security Function Report (Form SSA-3337). This is one of the main forms you’ll need to fill out and your answers will have a big effect on your overall application.
We talked to our team of vetted, qualified lawyers, and compiled their advice into this step-by-step guide. There are also dozens of sample answers and tips to help get you through the Function Report as smoothly as possible.
You can file a claim for disability benefits by submitting an application to the Social Security Administration (SSA). There are two main kinds of benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is available if you’ve worked and paid taxes for years but now you can’t work anymore and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), available to people with low-income and little to no work history. (Learn more about SSDI vs. SSI.)
To apply, start by completing the main disability benefits application (Form SSA-16). It asks more basic questions about your health, work history, and why you’re applying. You’ll also need to fill out a work history report (Form SSA-3369-BK) and likely a third-party function report (Form SSA-3380-BK) along with a work activity report (Form SSA-821-BK). Depending on your situation, the SSA may request some other questionnaires and paperwork.
For more help getting started, try our guide on how to apply for Social Security disability benefits.
The Function Report is a 10-page form that asks about your daily activities and how your health conditions affect your ability to work or go through life. It’s also one of the main forms you’ll fill out when you apply for Social Security disability benefits.
It’s also one of the most important forms in the application. The SSA will look closely at your answers because the Function Report requires you to clearly explain the ways your disability impacts you. They will also compare your answers on this functionality report with your answers on other forms to make sure your answers appear consistent and honest.
The third-party function report (Form SSA-3380-BK) allows you to have someone else describe the symptoms they've seen you display and how your medical condition impacts your ability to work.
While the third-party report can help you build a stronger application, it's important that you choose someone who understands your condition and how it affects your day-to-day life. Choosing someone who doesn't know much about your condition may not help your application if the SSA reaches out to them with further questions and they either don't know the answers or give answers that contradict something you've said.
Honestly, most applicants are better off bolstering their medical documentation and working with a disability lawyer to help them win their case. But if the SSA or DDS requests that you fill out the third-party function report, you should fill it out to avoid further delays in processing your application.
The questions on the third-party report are very similar to the normal Function Report, so all the advice also applies.
As general advice, your goal is to provide honest, concise, and consistent answers across your entire application. But how do you do that? Here are the top 9 Function Report tips from our lawyers. We’ve also included examples to demonstrate things you should avoid.
This is one of the most important pieces of advice we can offer you. As you complete your benefits application, it’s critical that you keep your answers consistent. And not just on this form. Once you’ve filled everything out, make sure the answers are consistent across all the forms. Re-use the same text in different forms if it helps.
The SSA will check for answers that seem to contradict each other. For example, if you can’t work because a condition restricts your motion, but you also say that you spend hours playing with a toddler at home, that will raise a red flag for the reader.
To make filling out the Function Report easier, we suggest starting with Question 20, in Section D. This long, multi-part question asks for detailed information about your abilities. If you start with question 20, your answer can make a great roadmap that you refer back to when completing the rest of the form.
When you’re done with the function report. Check again that all your answers are consistent with question 20.
Take as much space as you need to answer a question fully, but try to avoid volunteering extra information about your life, your disability, or work. Only say what’s truly needed for the SSA to understand your answer. The SSA is only concerned with your eligibility for benefits and giving too much information won’t help.
Examples:
Say “I can only sit for 20 to 30 minutes without pain,” instead of “I haven’t been able to watch a movie with my family in 6 years.”
But include anything necessary to understand your condition, like “I can only keep up with household laundry because my daughter does all the lifting, loading, and unloading.”
When discussing how your disability affects you, talk about your abilities on average days or on your worst days. Don’t try to make yourself sound more capable than you really are by talking about the symptoms on your best days.
For example, question 11 asks if your condition affects your sleep. If the answer is yes but only one or two times per week, on your worst days, then that’s what you should say. Saying no because you can sleep fine most nights won’t help your case.
Don’t say anything on your application unless it’s true. Also avoid making your condition sound worse than it is. For example, don’t say your pain level is 10/10 every day unless it truly is. If the person reading your application sees something that sounds false, they will flag your application.
Examples:
Say “My pain is 8/10 on my worst days, and 5/10 4-6 days a week,” instead of “I have constant 10/10 pain that keeps me from living my life.”
Say “I am hospitalized 3-4 times a month for episodes of severe pain,” instead of “My pain is 10/10 every day and requires hospitalization.”
If the SSA requests additional or supplemental information, submit it as soon as possible. Ideally, send the information within 10 days. Waiting any longer could delay your application. As it is, an SSDI application takes more than two years, on average.
