Veterans are individuals who have given up most of their freedom and sacrificed all the comforts of home to protect their country.

They have given up civilian life, braving themselves in dangerous situations.

This gives them the right to collect disability claims if they have a service-related injury or condition.

What is a Military Disability?

If an individual has a service-related medical condition, they are entitled to receive compensation and benefits as part of military disability.

A military disability means the veteran can no longer perform their duty.

You can use the following calculator to work out your total combined VA rating (i.e. your estimated compensation).

VA Benefits

Veterans can have problems getting their VA benefits, so it is important to know what you may be entitled to and how to uphold your rights to those benefits.

Applying for the Claim involves several Steps

• Compensation & Pension (C&P) Exam:
  • If your medical file does not have enough evidence in it, you will be asked to undergo the C&P exam by a doctor in order to record the exact nature of the medical condition and determine if it is indeed a service-related condition.

• Medical records and supporting evidence:
  • All your medical records as a service person and a civilian needs to be presented at the start of the process.
  • You can also submit other types of evidence, such as a commander’s statement.

• Ranking decision:
  • Every situation is unique.
  • Caseworkers rate the medical results and have 3 things to do:
    • Assign the rating;
    • Determine the veterans’ total combined VA rating; and
    • Decide if the person is entitled to any additional benefits.
  • Keep in mind, the ranking is based solely on the evidence provided.
  • What also needs to be kept in mind is that at some point, a lawyer needs to be contacted so that things are taken care of in a correct and professional manner.
  • The role of VA Disability Lawyers is to ensure that the VA disability processes go smoothly or make an appeal on your behalf because it’s not unheard of that a claim can be denied.
  • There are a few reasons why this can happen and why a lawyer can help you.

• Lack of medical evidence:
  • Your lawyer can collect all the necessary medical reports and evidence needed to make a claim.
  • What happens is that when you are left on your own, you might not submit enough proof of your medical condition, and this is the most important factor for your claim to go through.

• Service-connected:
  • From the evidence presented VA officials determine if the injury or condition you suffer is because of your service in the military.
  • Usually, your records will prove this, but sometimes record gets lost or can not be located and in that case you have to find other ways to prove your claim.

• Poor medical judgement:
  • A doctor must form an opinion on your condition and explain why it is or is not related to your service.
  • The claim is evaluated and those evaluating are usually looking for a certain language and phrasing from the doctor.
  • If it is not there, a claim can be denied.
  • At the end, the decision to hand out compensation is based on a judgement which is based on medical examinations, and judgements can be wrong.
  • You have the right to appeal a claim through a lawyer if there has been a miscarriage of justice.
  • Sometimes you will have to present new evidence, or explain your claim in a different way so that you receive your entitled benefits.
  • You want to make sure you have done all you can to ensure a smooth process.