Understanding the VA in a VA disability claim

The VA, or Veterans Administration, is difficult to understand when it comes to the processing of your VA disability benefits claim.  Let me briefly share with you the process in which a claim undergoes in the VA before a decision is made.  The most important, yet frustrating, thing to remember about your VA disability claim is that there is no required time limit to get the claim completed.  This is unfortunate.  Unlike personal injury cases where there is a statute of limitations of when the claim needs to be brought and prosecuted, no such time frame exists for VA disability benefits claims.  That means that claims can, and often do, linger for years.  However, having a good VA advocate before the VA, such as the Justice Legal Group, will help you in maneuvering through the murkiness of the VA.

Here is a brief overview of the VA  and it’s processes for handling VA disability benefits claims.

1.  A veteran first files his/her claim at their local office.  VA employees will look at the claim and decide what needs to be done to complete the claim.  Thus, a veteran will often get a letter asking for more information.

2.  Once the VA believes they have the information necessary to make a claim, they will decide on whether the veteran is entitled to VA disability benefits.  They then notify the veteran in writing of their decision.

3.  After receiving a rating decision, the veteran has one year to file a notice of disagreement with the claim.  If the veteran fails to file in that time frame the veteran will lose out on the opportunity to keep the claim going and the retroactive effective date will be interrupted.

4.  If the veteran appeals he/she can elect the Decision Review Officer approach or an appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals.  Either way is fine, but I prefer handling as much as possible at the local level with the DRO.

5.  If you still aren’t satisfied then a veteran has the option of appealing to the court of appeals of Veterans Claims.

Of course, this brief outline is just an overview and it’s important to discuss your case with a qualified representative, like the Justice Legal Group.  If you have questions about your VA disability benefits claim then please call us at 505-880-8737 or email us at info@JusticeLegalGroup.com.

We want to hear from you.  Have you had a good or bad experiences with the Veterans Administration in your quest to get VA Disability Benefits?

David A. Standridge