Not Letting Them Win: Why Appeals are So Important in the VA Disability Process and When and How to File Them!

If you have applied for service-connected disability benefits from the VA and been denied, be sure to submit your appeal on time to protect your benefits!

Once your appeal is approved, VA will typically give you back pay for the time that your claim has been pending since you filed your claim. If you give up on a decision and do not appeal it, then reapply later, your “effective date” or how much back pay you receive will be based on that, NEW application – not your first or previous claim.

Did VA grant you service-connection but assign a low rating for your condition(s)? Appeal!

Many veterans who receive an award of service-connection recognize that for the victory it is and do not immediately appeal that decision. In many cases however, forcing VA to take a second look at the rating assigned can be beneficial and lead to an increased rating award.

Or, were only some of your conditions granted service-connection but not the others? Appeal!

There are numerous reasons that VA can use to deny claims; insufficient evidence of in-service incurrence, no evidence of current condition or ongoing treatment, etc. It could be that you have the evidence required for one or some, but not all of your conditions – in some cases, even where the conditions are the result of the same in service incident! So, if VA has granted service-connection for some, but not all conditions – Great! That’s a good start but you should still appeal that decision as to the conditions that were not granted service-connection, and in appropriate cases, the ratings of those granted service-connection.

Ready to appeal? Get help!

Within the last couple of years VA changed its rules about the Notice of Disagreement (appeal) form and made it harder for people to fill out properly. If you do not know the legal basis for each part of your appeal you should have an attorney review your case and assist you with the completion of your Notice of Disagreement to make sure that you don’t leave money on the table!

If you have received a Rating Decision within the last year from VA contact us for a case review and assistance with an appeal! Our goal is to get the highest possible rating for each client! Call us to speak with an experienced attorney: (210) 530-4278.