If you have sustained an injury during your military training, or you have an existing health condition that has gotten worse as a result – you can qualify for compensation after filing a VA claim with the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Contents
What Is A VA Disability Compensation About?
A VA disability compensation is essentially a monthly tax-free payment for a veteran who developed mental or physical health conditions during, before, or after their service. To receive VA disability compensation, you need to file a disability claim with Veterans Affairs.
A lawyer can help you successfully navigate the entire claim process and ensure that you receive the benefits that you have rightfully earned.
How to Prepare for Your VA Claim?
After you have confirmed that you can file for a VA disability, you need to prepare for the actual filing of the claim. Start by gathering all the documents and evidence that you need to file the claim, including appropriate evidence.
The type of documents and information you need to have handy depends on the claim that you plan to file. Again, a lawyer can help you through this part of the process.
Three Ways to File the Claim
Typically, Veteran Affairs offers you three ways to file for your disability claim, including the following:
- In-person
- Online
You can start the process of submitting your application online at VA.gov at any time. Once you have effectively started your application process, you will have twelve months to submit it.
Gather Supporting Evidence
Of course, you need to have supporting evidence to maximize your disability claim. If you have filed for compensation and you are waiting for the VA’s decision, you can continue uploading more evidence to support your claim, such as medical test results, doctor reports, and other supporting records.
If needed, you might as well have to attend your VA claim assessment. VA might schedule you for compensation and pension after you have filed for your VA disability claim. They will schedule the assessment to effectively rate your disability.
Typically, VA will contact you with scheduling information about the location, date, and time if you need to complete your claim submission.
Effective Tips to Maximize Your VA Disability Claim
If you are a veteran and aiming for a one hundred percent disability, then you can immensely benefit from our tips, which you can use to maximize your veteran disability rating.
You Need to Have A Strategy
You don’t want to have all sorts of claims and see what sticks, as this won’t let you maximize your disability rating. When you submit a claim, make sure you have proper medical evidence. A proper medical evidence includes the following aspects:
- Diagnosis
- Medical History: It requires the veteran to go to the doctor and have a record of how their injury or illness affects their day-to-day life.
- Nexus Letter: You might want to submit that Nexus letter upfront at the time of submitting your claim.
Detail Your Secondary Conditions
Typically, secondary conditions are the secret to maximizing your VA disability compensation. You should look at your VA service-connected disability – then – with the help of your doctor, objectively look at yourself to determine the potential secondary conditions that you have developed that essentially stem from your service-connected disability.
For instance, you might have developed tinnitus from your disability – however – a few months or a year later, you might have developed some serious migraine issues. If this happens, you need to set an appointment with your doctor and talk to them about how your migraine is affecting your day-to-day life.
Subsequently, your doctor might prescribe you some medicines to help you with your day-to-day life.
Attaching Medical Evidence is Crucial
It is important to mention here that if you lack medical evidence in your service treatment records supporting your secondary conditions, such as headaches or migraines – you can go ahead and link your migraines and headaches to your tinnitus or whatever other disability you have.
Again, depending on which conditions you might want to link with your VA disability claim, you might want to consider a Nexus letter.
Now, you might be wondering about how you can effectively tell which conditions are secondary to which service-connected disability. To determine this, you might want to get in touch with an attorney who specializes in this area, such as the Georgia Veterans Disability Claims and Appeals Attorneys, if you are from Georgia.
The attorney can help you as they will have all of the groundwork ready for you. Just talk to an attorney so that you have access to the knowledge base as the attorney understands the ins and outs of veteran disability claims, and they are also more likely to help you with going through the list of every single VA disability list that you can claim.
Do Not Exaggerate Your VA Disability Rating
The worst that you can do to your case is to lie and exaggerate your symptoms. It is incredibly important to be honest and to be open. On that note, work closely with your lawyer and have an attorney by your side to represent you. However, it is okay not to obtain one hundred percent for your disability.
If you were to speak to the veterans who got one hundred percent, they would tell you that you are the lucky ones as you still have your health intact. There are loads of things that you and your family won’t have to deal with as you go through your life.
Do Not Attempt to Cheat Your Way Through the System
The important thing to keep in mind is that there is no shortcut to a hundred percent VA disability. So, if your objective is to lie and cheat your way through the VA system, we are here to tell you upfront that it is not going to work. In simple words – lying is not okay, especially when it comes to your potential VA disability rating.
As a veteran, you will have to prove your disability and any potential secondary conditions with the help of hard medical evidence. Once that is proven, you will have to prove the service connection.
