The VA disability claim, minus the sharks.

Move one: protect your date before anything else

The single most expensive mistake in this process is a late start date. An intent to file sets a potential effective date for your benefits - if your claim is approved, back pay can reach to the date VA processed your intent, not the day you finally finished the paperwork. Once you notify VA, you have one year to complete and file the claim. Starting the disability application online notifies VA automatically; you can also call or mail VA Form 21-0966. How intent to file works

Then build the evidence file: service medical records, the conditions list, and the paper trail that proves what happened and when. Our paperwork guide covers the one-folder habit that makes this painless.

Still in uniform? The BDD window is the fast lane

Benefits Delivery at Discharge lets you file your claim 180 to 90 days before separation, while your records are complete, your providers are on base, and the exam can happen before you out-process. File inside that window and a decision can land close to your first civilian day instead of months after it. Miss it, and you file the standard way after separation - still fine, just slower. The pre-discharge claim

The only help worth having is accredited

Three kinds of people can responsibly represent you on a VA claim: accredited VSO representatives (DAV, VFW, American Legion, your county veteran service officer, and others), accredited attorneys, and accredited claims agents. In VA's own words, the services an accredited VSO representative provides on your benefit claims are always free. Attorneys and claims agents can charge fees, and the law regulates when and how much. How representation works

The rule that beats every sales pitch: look them up before you sign anything. VA runs the official accreditation search - if the person or company pitching you is not in it, walk away. And if anyone offers to “maximize your rating” for a percentage of your back pay, that percentage is your money, for a claim you could file free with an accredited rep beside you. VSAFE.gov is the government's official fraud-protection site for veterans and families - when a pitch feels off, check it there and report it there. Search the accreditation list

The claim exam: this is not the day to tough it out

After you file, VA may schedule a claim exam (the C&P exam) to help rate your conditions. Go to it, and answer like the record depends on it, because it does. Describe your worst days, not your best ones - the examiner is documenting how conditions actually affect your life, and twenty years of “I'm fine” is the one habit that hurts you in that room. Honest and complete is the whole assignment. What happens at the exam

If the decision comes back wrong

A denial or a low rating is not the end of the road. VA gives you three decision review options - adding new evidence with a Supplemental Claim, asking a senior reviewer to take a fresh look with a Higher-Level Review, or appealing to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. This later stage is where accredited attorneys and claims agents typically earn their fees - and where free accredited VSO help still exists too. The three review options