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Stop Leaving Money on the Table: The 7 Biggest VA Disability Mistakes Veterans Make

If you are a veteran, you could potentially be losing thousands of dollars a month by not correctly filing your VA disability benefits and securing the support you’ve earned. We want to outline the seven most common mistakes and explain how you can avoid them to set yourself up for success.

Mistake 1: Simply Not Filing

The biggest error veterans make is just not filing. This could stem from the process seeming too daunting or overwhelming, or perhaps from a sense of pride where you feel you shouldn’t “milk the system”.

At the end of the day, you earned these benefits by serving your country. You should submit a claim for anything that happened in service that is a current injury, a past injury, or has the potential to become a future injury.

A critical example is exposure to burn pits. If you were in Iraq or Afghanistan and dealt with burn pits, you should file and get put on the burn pit registry now. Even if you are 100% healthy today, potential issues like lung cancer could develop decades later, and if you haven’t filed, you might be left dealing with the ramifications on your own.

Mistake 2: Missing the Nexus

This is the mistake of not correctly tying the event to service. The VA needs clear proof that your injury or condition is “service connected”.

If you file a claim without sufficient proof, the VA may deny it, asking how they can be sure the injury didn’t happen elsewhere. To prevent this, you must document everything while you are serving. Every time you are injured or something comes up, talk about it so that it is in your record.

Mistake 3: Incomplete Medical Evidence

Closely related to missing the nexus is the lack of supporting documents or specialist opinions. If you failed to document issues while in service, you will need to work hard to build out a paper trail now.

This may involve getting statements from people who served with you (buddy statements) or obtaining external evaluations that can prove the connection. Bring all the necessary documents and proof to your Compensation and Pension (C&P) exams.

Mistak 4: Downplaying Your Symptoms at C&P Exams

Veterans and service members often like to downplay their issues, pretending everything is okay because they are “big and tough”. Underreporting symptoms at C&P exams can seriously shoot yourself in the foot.

When you attend a C&P exam—a follow-up with a doctor to evaluate the claimed issue—you are being evaluated the moment you walk in the door.

Be honest and vulnerable. If you are doing a range of motion test, stop immediately when you feel pain. Do not suffer through the pain to show off how tough you are, as this will lead to inaccurate measurements and potentially screw up your claim. You must be honest about your symptoms, though you should not lie or overplay them.

Mistake 5: Missing Deadlines

While there is no formal deadline to start your initial claim, the VA is not forgiving if you miss deadlines for appeals, supplemental claims, or submitting evidence.

Initial Claim: File as you are easing out or within one year of leaving active duty. If you file within that first year, the effective date for benefits can be your separation date, maximizing your back pay.
Supplemental Claims and Higher Level Reviews (HLR): These must be filed within one year of the date of your decision letter. Missing this mark means that even if approved later, you won’t be able to back pay to the date of that initial decision.

Mistake 6: Not Filing for Secondary Conditions

Many people overlook the importance of secondary conditions, which are defined as a byproduct of an initial service-connected disability.

For instance, if you had a knee injury that changed how you walk over time, and that led to a back injury, the back injury could be claimed as a secondary condition.

Filing for a secondary condition can be an “easy button way” to get stuff approved because if the primary injury is already service-connected, you don’t have to go through as much evidence submission for the new issue.

Mistake 7: Doing It Alone (Post-Initial Filing)

While you can handle your initial filing solo, when you go to fight for tweaks or appeals with the VA, having a guide is highly recommended.

You can work with a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) from the VA. Be cautious of companies that charge a percentage of your back pay, as this incentivizes them to be slower, since the longer your claim takes, the more money they make. Seek out trusted, qualified guides who will treat you fairly and shoot you straight.

Final Takeaway

The goal is to ensure you get the benefits you deserve from the injuries you sustained while serving your country. Don’t try to game the system or lie to obtain money, as this screws up the system for everyone else. If you have legitimate issues, file and take care of yourself and your family.

Tags VA benefits, veteran disability, service connection, C&P exam, secondary conditions, VA deadlines, burn pit registry, TBI, military injuries, filing VA claims, MarketUS, helpallvets.org