(Newswire.net — July 13, 2019) — For veterans with injuries and illnesses stemming from their time in the service, the Veterans Administration (VA) offers disability compensation. Unfortunately, actually qualifying for and receiving disability can be a major challenge. In order to win your claim, you’ll need a plan of action.
How VA Disability Works
Disability compensation is a monthly tax-free benefit that’s paid out to military service veterans who have a disability that was incurred or aggravated during duty (active or inactive), training, or some other form of service.
“The compensation a disabled veteran receives from the government for a physical disability is graduated according to the degree of disability (as it is also for a mental disorder),” DisabledVets.com explains. “The VA rates each disability identified in each veteran’s benefit claim on a scale from 10% to 100%. Multiple disabilities are awarded a combined rate according to a set VA formula.”
In other words, qualifying for VA disability isn’t as simple as proving that you have a physical disability or mental illness related to your service. You also have to prove the severity of the disability in order to obtain an adequate benefit payment. If you can’t prove a minimum of 10 percent disability, you won’t qualify for anything.
4 Tips for Winning Your Claim
Winning a VA disability claim requires discipline, strategy, and careful attention to detail. Here are some tips to increase your chances of success:
1. Learn the Rules
For starters, you need to understand the basics of the disability claims and appeals process. Otherwise, all of your time will be spent confused over the different rules.
In particular, it’s important to have a firm grasp on the deadlines and effective dates. If you don’t file the right paperwork within the correct timeframes, your claim will automatically be tossed out. You can read more about how these dates and deadlines are determined by visiting the VA website.
2. Organize Your Evidence
After verifying that you have the correct dates, the single most important thing you can do to win a disability claim is to compile evidence that supports your case.
While the VA can access any treatment records from VA medical facilities and military offices, you should never assume that they have everything they need.
“If you have your service medical records, include them as evidence. It also helps VA if you include where it was that you’ve been treated for your medical conditions on your application (name of treatment facility),” VA explains. “You should also highlight the pages and passages that refer to your medical conditions, such as lab results and diagnoses, which may eliminate weeks or even months of processing time. Providing all of this information with your claim will help the rating team process your claim more quickly.”
In addition to medical records, you should provide further evidence that supports your claim to disability. If, for example, you’re trying to obtain Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU) benefits, you’ll need to show evidence that you’re actually unemployable. The more information you provide, the better.
3. Don’t Limit Your Claim
Veterans often make the mistake of limiting their claim to a single diagnosis in an effort to speed up the timeline or simplify the process. However, this is a big mistake. If multiple issues are present, you should include all symptoms and conditions in your claim. Not only will this give the VA medical team a more accurate picture of your situation, but it could potentially increase your disability payout by raising your VA rate.
4. Get Some Help
If the process of filing a VA claim seems too complicated, or if you lack the resources to manage the process on your own, it may be wise to get some help. There are attorneys and other professionals who specialize in helping veterans obtain their benefits. Partnering with one of these individuals may be worth it.
Adding it All Up
At the end of the day, it’s up to the VA to determine who gets disability claims and how much each individual qualifies for. But with that being said, you can increase your chances of winning your claim by implementing some of the tips and strategies outlined in this article. Give them a try and see what happens!