Your VA Claim

Have you filed a VA disability benefits claim? Are you confused about what's happening? Have you received conflicting mail or messages from the VA? Are your buddies telling you tales of how you should do things?

Do you feel abandoned by the system that you thought would help you?

Welcome to the club. You're now one more of the hundreds of thousands of American military veterans who are anxious and wondering what to do next. The system is failing us. That isn't news these days.

Most of you want to reach out to a "representative" who will take you worries on as their own and diligently work to resolve your problems for you. You'd like to make a phone call to someone who cares. You want to find that one special person who will help you.

That's not going to happen.

Any representative you talk to may help you complete some paperwork and that's about it. Some of the people who claim to be "VA reps" aren't trained, they have no qualifications, no skills, to do much to help you and once the initial contact is completed, they will promptly forget who you are.

VAWatchdog has always promoted the Do It Yourself (DIY) method of working with VA. We've often said, "Nobody cares about your claim like you do."  We believe that the VA would rather work directly with you to resolve your claim than to have to work with a middleman who make make mistakes and FUBAR your claim.

Why do we think that? Because we've heard it directly from the VA employees who do the work on your claim. The fact is that you are not required to have any sort of representative. VA is set up to help you if you work directly with your regional office.

We know these things because we've been there, done that. We pass on our real life experience and all we've learned directly to you in the pages of this blog. There's no hype here, this is the real deal. We aren't professional journalists or investigative reporters, we're veterans who have disabling conditions and ratings...just like you. Along the way, we've learned a few things about how to effectively deal with VA and how to maximize the benefits you earned through your honorable military service.

We believe that if you really want to succeed, if your goals are to bring home the best benefit that you are eligible for, in the least amount of time, you absolutely have to Do It Yourself. Nobody is going to help you.

We believe that it isn't as difficult as most would like you to think. The "representatives" who offer to help you aren't usually anything more than recruiters for the organization they work for. Every vet who contacts us to complain about their "VA rep" has been talked into signing up for some organization. All too often they will (wink, wink) tell you that if you purchase a life membership, you'll get some sort of preference. Then they disappear.

Do you have a membership card that does you no good? Me too.

To manage your own claim isn't rocket science. If you follow a few rules, if you have a well grounded claim, you'll prevail and you'll be awarded what you've earned.

All it takes from you is commitment and some time. If you think you can hand your claim over to some stranger and that he or she will do all the grunt work for you for free, good luck. But first, you have to give that stranger your power of attorney (POA). That's not a move that you should take lightly. To revoke the POA isn't as simple as giving it away. This is serious stuff folks, you really need to think about that.

We've laid it all out for you here at VAWatchdog. If you follow a few simple guidelines that we give to you, you'll be joining thousands of other vets who have taken control of their claims...and their life...and won.

Yes, it will take time. Of course, some of it will be hard to understand and it'll confuse you at first. Certainly, the process will cause you anxiety and stress. You'll have to work at it.

But...aren't you a veteran? Didn't you have the courage to make it through your military service? Why do you think you need another person to perform some simple tasks for you now after all you accomplished as a soldier, sailor, airman or marine?

The path to success with any VA claim is to do it yourself. All it takes is your commitment and some of your time.

Jim Strickland

The VAWatchdog blog is the home of Do It Yourself (DIY) for veterans. 

We believe that most of you are not only capable of managing your own claims, we believe that you are the one who is best prepared to manage your claims.

Who knows more about you and your experiences than you?

The VA is designed to work directly with the veteran.

Most veterans are taught to believe that the they must have a "representative" of some sort to work with the VA. This is absolutely not true.

In the initial stages of a claim (before any appeals are necessary) the process is administrative, not a "legal" process.

In other words, you file a claim and VA reviews it in a way that should give you the benefit of the doubt. It really is that simple in concept.

VA employees often tell VAWatchdog they'd rather work directly with the veteran. 

It seems reasonable to believe that most raters who are processing claims would like to eliminate the middleman. The representative you choose usually
doesn't do anything more than help you complete paperwork and then forwards it to the VA.

Not all Veterans Representatives are created equal.

Believe it or not, there is no educational or licensing requirement to be a VSO representative. The VSO has no nationally standardized test to pass. There is no single oversight group or organization that will assure that your representative is competent.

If you go to a doctor, a lawyer, an optometrist, or a plumber, there are schools and licenses and oversight agencies that dictate standards of practice for those people.

All a VSO representative has to do is join or be employed by an approved organization and they can be immediately approved to represent you. The sponsoring organization may or may not effectively train the individual. You won't ever know because nobody is required to tell you.

Can you really Do It Yourself?

VAWatchdog has long believed that not only can you DIY your claim, we believe that you will be much better off for your efforts.

A few advantages...

You haven't handed over Power of Attorney to a stranger.

You have all your records.

You're sure the claim was properly filed because you used certified mail.

How To...Do It Yourself 

Step 1: Make the decision that you are taking control. Stop depending on other people to help. Most of the people who offer you help aren't as smart as you are. None of the people who offer to help have no clue about you and your military experience. You are just one more veteran in the long line of vets who are waiting for advice.

Step 2: Develop your strategy. What will you file? Are you filing a new claim or are you seeking an increase in an existing claim? As you begin to take control of your VA benefits, you need to determine just what your goals are. Then stick to the plan.

Step 3: Get organized. Gather up all the old papers you can find that have any relation to the VA or your military experiences. You may want to begin making copies now...you'll need them. If you're submitting civilian medical records, get them yourself, don't depend on VA to do that for you. This is DIY, remember? You don't trust anyone, particularly the VA, to do what they're supposed to do.

Step 4: File your claims. Be specific as you go about this. The VA doesn't want to hear about how your problems have spilled into your personal life and that your souse is angry with you. VA doesn't need to know that you can't afford the new television or that your rent payment is late. The only information VA will review and use is that which is pertinent to the claim. Keep your communications brief and precise.

Step 5: If you haven't made the request for your c-file, do that now. Getting a copy of your c-file may reveal things to you that you didn't know was in there. Many vets find that there are missing files or even some other veterans files in your folder. Get your c-file and get it organized.

Step 6: Over the long haul, keep in mind that it's important to cooperate with the VA. It doesn't matter if you get a request for a C & P exam that you know duplicates things already in your records. Just do it. Don't waste time questioning the rules or complaining about how stupid the rules are. If you're asked to do something, step up and get it done. I can't tell you how many veterans I've watched shoot themselves in the foot because they wanted to teach the VA how things should work. Your opinion isn't important in the claims process. You must decide if you want to win your claim or argue with the VA? I'd suggest that you win your claim.

Step 7: Read VAWatchdog often. If that sounds self serving and like a promotional piece for our web site, it isn't really. If you're a constant reader, you'll be the first to know of any changes to the system. The veteran who is alert and aware is always going to come out ahead. We know that the VAWatchdog is the most up to date and accurate site on the Internet so we're sure you should stay in touch.

Step 8: Be patient. From the moment you file a claim to the moment you receive an award letter will take years. Not days, weeks or months...years. You will have C & P exams even if you don't need them. You'll get computer generated mailings that make no sense to anyone. Your first award letter from VA will probably be a denial and you'll have to appeal. The sooner you accept the fact that VA is broken, the better it's going to be for you. Working with VA isn't a one time deal and there are no quick fixes.

Step 9: If all this seems a bit much, ask your spouse to take over for you. We know that a great many successful claims are driven by the spouse doing most of the grunt work. That's fine. You have to help her though. Try to be a helpful as you can as she tries to help your family.

Step 10: Prepare to win. If you have a well grounded claim and you have followed the rules of engagement, you will win. If it takes 1, 2, 3 or more years...well, that's a shame. What's important is that in the end you will have the benefits that you earned by your honorable military service.


Now you know. Go for it, file the claim today!