VA Disability Compensation

What VA looks for: First claim for a condition

1. 1A condition you have nowA diagnosis from a medical provider, VA or private, showing you have the condition today.
2. 2Something that happened during serviceAn injury, illness, or event during your service, shown by service records, medical records, or statements from people who were there.
3. 3A connection between the twoA medical opinion that the condition is at least as likely as not related to your service, or a presumption written into law that makes the connection for you.

Source: 38 CFR 3.303 (opens in new tab); M21-1 V.ii.2.A (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.307 (opens in new tab); VA.gov: evidence needed for your disability claim (opens in new tab)

Which kind of claim is this?

• First claim for a condition

  Use this when VA has not decided the condition before. The application is VA Form 21-526EZ, and VA looks for three things in the record.

  Source: 38 CFR 3.303 (opens in new tab); M21-1 V.ii.2.A (opens in new tab); VA.gov: evidence needed for your disability claim (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

• Claim for increase

  Use this when VA already rates a condition and it has gotten worse. It uses the same form, VA Form 21-526EZ. If the record shows the date the condition got worse, and the claim or an intent to file reaches VA within 1 year of that date, the effective date can be that earlier date. Otherwise it is the date VA receives the claim.

  1. 1How severe the rated condition is nowRecords and statements that show the current symptoms and how they affect work and daily life. VA rates the condition on how it is now.

  Source: M21-1 II.iii.2.C (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.400(o)(2) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: evidence needed for your disability claim (opens in new tab)

• Secondary condition

  A condition caused by a condition VA already service connected is service connected too. It also covers a condition that did not come from service, to the extent a service-connected condition made it worse than it would have gotten on its own. For that second kind, VA needs medical evidence of how severe the condition was before it got worse (the baseline).

  1. 1A condition you have nowThe same diagnosis rule as for a first claim, above, for the new condition.
  2. 2A condition VA already service connectedA condition VA has already decided is service connected, shown on your rating decision.
  3. 3A connection to the rated conditionA medical opinion that the rated condition caused the new one, or made it worse. For made worse, VA also needs a medical baseline showing how severe it was before.

  Source: 38 CFR 3.310 (opens in new tab); M21-1 V.ii.2.D (opens in new tab); VA.gov: evidence needed for your disability claim (opens in new tab)

• Presumptive condition

  For some conditions tied to certain service, the law presumes the connection, so no link evidence is needed. The lists cover herbicide exposure, Camp Lejeune water, some chronic and tropical diseases, former prisoners of war, burn pits and other fine particulate matter, and Gulf War service. Most presumptions need a diagnosed, listed condition. The Gulf War rule also pays for an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness with objective signs that no known diagnosis explains. Since the PACT Act, that illness counts at any level and whenever it shows up; the regulation text still carries an older 10 percent and 2026 date rule that VA no longer applies.

  1. 1A listed conditionA diagnosed condition on one of the lists in the law. For Gulf War service, an unexplained illness with objective signs also counts.
  2. 2The service the presumption requiresMilitary records that show the time, place, or duty the presumption names.

  Source: 38 CFR 3.307 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.309 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.317 (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.320 (opens in new tab); M21-1 V.ii.2.B (opens in new tab); VA.gov: exposure to hazardous materials (opens in new tab); VA.gov: disabilities that appear within 1 year after discharge (opens in new tab); M21-1 VIII.ii.1.A (opens in new tab); VA.gov: evidence needed for your disability claim (opens in new tab)

• Unable to work: Individual Unemployability

  Individual Unemployability lets VA assign a total disability rating when service-connected conditions keep a veteran from holding substantially gainful work, meaning steady work that pays more than a marginal amount. The rating schedule threshold is one service-connected condition rated 60% or more, or two or more with at least one rated 40% or more and a combined rating of 70% or more. Earning at or below the poverty threshold for one person generally counts as marginal employment, and so can work in a protected setting such as a family business or sheltered workshop. It has its own card.

  1. 1Ratings at the threshold, or a case for extraschedular reviewService-connected ratings that meet the rating schedule threshold. Below it, VA can refer the claim for extraschedular review.
  2. 2No substantially gainful workA work history showing that service-connected conditions keep you from steady work that pays more than a marginal amount.

  Source: 38 CFR 4.16(a) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 4.16(b) (opens in new tab); M21-1 VIII.iv.3.A (opens in new tab); VA.gov: Individual Unemployability (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-8940 (opens in new tab)

• Adding dependents

  VA pays added compensation for a spouse, children, and dependent parents when the combined rating is 30% or more. A dependent can be added on the same application as the first claim.

  1. 1A combined rating of 30% or moreThe added amount for dependents starts at a combined rating of 30%. The rating can come from the same claim.
  2. 2A spouse, child, or dependent parentEach dependent is listed for VA. Children count until 18, until 23 while in school, or longer when permanently disabled before 18.

  Source: VA.gov: add dependents to your disability benefits (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-686c (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

What to gather, and what it shows VA

Records and statements go to VA. BeneVets never asks you to upload or type them here.

Steps, in order

1. Set your start date

   Submit an intent to file on VA Form 21-0966, by phone, or by starting the online application. You then have 1 year to file the full claim, and VA treats a complete claim filed in that year as filed on the intent to file date. A claim VA receives within 1 year after you leave service can take the day after separation as its effective date.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.155(b) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.400(b)(2)(i) (opens in new tab); M21-1 II.iii.2.A (opens in new tab); VA.gov: your intent to file (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-0966 (opens in new tab)

2. Get free help from a VSO

   Free help: an accredited VSO can file this with you. Find one near you in the BeneVets VSO directory at Find an accredited VSO near you. VA also accredits attorneys and claims agents, who can charge fees only for work done after VA issues its initial decision on the claim.

   Source: VA.gov: accredited representatives (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 14.636(c) (opens in new tab)

3. List your conditions on paper

   On paper, list each condition you plan to claim, when it started, and the service event it relates to. Each condition becomes its own issue in VA's decision. Keep the list with your papers; BeneVets does not ask for it.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.151(c) (opens in new tab)

4. Gather service records

   VA will request your DD214 and service treatment records for you once you file. Include any copies you already have. For your own copies, use eVetRecs or SF180.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.159(c)(3) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: request your military service records (opens in new tab); Standard Form 180 (SF180) (opens in new tab)

5. Handle private medical records

   For each private provider, send copies of the records to VA, or complete VA Form 21-4142 and VA Form 21-4142a so VA can request them.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.159(c)(1) (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-4142 (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-4142a (opens in new tab)

6. Check your VA records

   If you get care at VA, VA pulls those records itself. You can review them on VA.gov to see what is already there.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.159(c)(2) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: review medical records online (opens in new tab)

7. Ask witnesses for statements

   Ask people who saw the event in service, or who see its effects now, whether they will complete VA Form 21-10210. Your own account goes on VA Form 21-4138.

   Source: M21-1 V.ii.1.B (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-10210 (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-4138 (opens in new tab)

8. Add the traumatic event statement if it applies

   If a mental health condition relates to a traumatic event in service, complete VA Form 21-0781 and send it with the claim.

   Source: 38 CFR 3.304(f) (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-0781 (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

9. Add the work forms for Individual Unemployability

   For Individual Unemployability, complete VA Form 21-8940 and send VA Form 21-4192 to past employers to complete. Both go to VA with the claim.

   Source: 38 CFR 4.16(a) (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-8940 (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-4192 (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

10. Add your dependents

    If you have a spouse, children, or dependent parents, list them for VA. A spouse or child goes on VA Form 21-686c, sent with your claim. VA pays added compensation for dependents once the combined rating is 30% or more.

    Source: VA Form 21-686c (opens in new tab); VA.gov: add dependents to your disability benefits (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

11. Have your bank details ready

    VA Form 21-526EZ asks for direct deposit details: the bank name, account type, account number, and routing number, because federal benefits are paid by electronic transfer. These details go on VA's form only. BeneVets does not collect them.

    Source: VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

12. Add a cover letter (optional)

    Optional, not a VA requirement: a one-page cover letter on top of your evidence. It lists the conditions claimed, your service dates, the events in service, and a numbered list of every document enclosed.

13. File your claim

    File VA Form 21-526EZ within the year after your intent to file. The BeneVets fill flow can prefill identity, contact, and service fields; the conditions and evidence sections are completed on VA's form.

    Source: 38 CFR 3.155(b) (opens in new tab); VA Form 21-526EZ (opens in new tab)

14. Go to any claim exam VA schedules

    VA asks for a claim exam only when it needs more information to decide. Missing an exam can delay the claim, and VA may then decide on the evidence it already has. VA says you do not need to bring anything to the exam.

    Source: 38 CFR 3.159(c)(4) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: VA claim exam (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to file a VA disability claim (opens in new tab)

15. Track your claim

    Track the claim on VA.gov and answer any VA request for more evidence.

    Source: M21-1 III.i.2.D (opens in new tab); VA.gov: how to file a VA disability claim (opens in new tab)

16. Read the decision, condition by condition

    Each condition is a separate issue with its own review option: a Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995), a Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996), or a Board Appeal (VA Form 10182). A review filed within 1 year of the decision notice keeps the original effective date.

    Source: 38 CFR 3.151(c) (opens in new tab); 38 CFR 3.2500(h) (opens in new tab); VA.gov: decision reviews and appeals (opens in new tab); VA Form 20-0995 (opens in new tab); VA Form 20-0996 (opens in new tab); VA Form 10182 (opens in new tab)

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