A recent casual conversation this writer engaged in with a leading Technical Liaison at VCU led to a discussion on the hitherto overlooked regulation that is legalese in its purest form. Collateral Estoppel sounds made up by someone trying to sound intelligent but is in fact a genuine term recognized by the legal and Social Security communities.
As far as SSA are concerned Collateral Estoppel comes into play for those applying for one kind of benefits who already have another kind (for example, applying for CDB when you have SSI). Collateral Estoppel means, in this case, that as you were already deemed to be disabled as an SSI beneficiary then there’s no need to see if you’re disabled when applying for CDB- you already meet the definition.
That makes perfect sense and saves everyone an awful lot of bother, but it was only in a POMS change as of July 12 this year that your local Field Office was allowed to apply Collateral Estoppel. Previously a case had to be referred on to the DDS. Now that only has to happen if the new claim has an earlier date of disability than the old, successful, case had. So, hurrah for common sense, even if it was bestowed a quite absurd moniker.
Here’s where you can see the new POMS citation: SSA – POMS: DI 27515.001 – Collateral Estoppel Issues and Title II Claims Involving Possible Earlier Onset – 07/12/2024