Struggling Against VA Disability Claim Denial? Fight With More Information
The Veterans Affairs (VA) disability system exists to help veterans in need, but the assistance sometimes falls short. It's important to filter out fraudulent claims and to get the right amount of care to the right people, but there are times where legitimately suffering veterans are denied. The problem could be a lack of paperwork or missing evidence, or your claim may have hit a series of unlucky events resulting in an error on the VA's side. Regardless of the reason, take the time to understand what could have gone wrong in order to get the compensation and care you deserve as soon as possible.
How Prepared Are You?
Some veterans are able to prepare their claims while still in the military. These claims benefit from being written with direct information from medical professionals. If the claim information isn't enough or if some medical information is missing, official documents can be written by medical and administrative officers with significant authority. Such authority can virtually guarantee approval.
Many veterans lack such conveniences. Some veterans may be leaving the military from small bases or hectic situations, leaving only a few days in an administrative area that can accurately pinpoint the source and extent of their condition.
Other veterans may not realize the severity of their condition, or may not understand the level of difficulty that comes from dealing with the administrative systems. If you didn't complain about leg, back or head problems while in the military or barely brought it up, you may have a much harder time with your claim.
A successful claim depends on how strong your condition's service connection is. A service-connected injury must show how the condition is related to military service, such as the date of the condition being noticed or an injury occurring. If you didn't complain about the issue while in the military, you'll need to gather as much evidence as soon as possible; the longer you wait, the easier it is for claims officials to say that your condition happened after the military--which means it isn't eligible for compensation.
Legal Advice Can Support Missing Information
The VA understands that not all veterans are able to package their medical information perfectly for a claim or appeal. Your denial comes with an attached statement about how to appeal (shown in this PDF document from the VA), but if you don't make your appeal stronger than the official claim, you could be wasting months or years trying to get it right.
A personal injury lawyer can cut away a lot of the guesswork. Although every compensation system is different, the information you need to support a disability claim is part of an injury lawyer's expertise.
Your military history can be researched and compared against other veterans with similar traits and histories. If you need current proof that shows your continued suffering because of the disability, an injury attorney can pair you with a medical team that knows claim system requirements. It's one thing to diagnose and treat a condition, but it takes a specialized level of exposure and skill to document evidence in a way that can convince the claim system in your favor.
Contact a personal injury lawyer to empower your next appeal with the information you need for success and improved VA compensation ratings.
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