A rule by the Department of Veterans Affairs recently came into effect, which will end much of the informal claims process for VA disability benefits.
The rule, according to a press release issued by the National Veterans Legal Services Program, became effective March 24, 2015, and limits the types of inferred claims VA will allow, leaving “injured and disabled veterans at a serious disadvantage when applying for VA disability compensation.”
The NVLSP press release states that there are two aspects of the rule that are particularly important: First, the rule eliminates the right of a veteran to initiate the VA adjudication process by writing a plain letter to the VA seeking a specific benefit; and second, the VA will now severely limit the type of benefits that will be adjudicated when presented with a disability benefits claim.
“Veterans service organizations such as NVLSP, The American Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Veterans of America, and AMVETS are challenging these unfair changes in court,” the press release states. “But until and unless these new VA rules are declared unlawful, they will continue to impact any VA disability claims for compensation filed on or after March 24, 2015.”
From the press release:
The NVLSP offers the following tips to help veterans safeguard their benefits to the extent possible under these new rules and to guide advocates assisting veterans.
1. Use VA’s new “Intent to File a Claim” process — not an informal letter — to initiate your claim. Under the new rules, writing a letter to VA stating you want to file a VA claim for disability compensation for a medical condition that you believe is connected to your military service will no longer start a VA claim on your behalf. Therefore, such letters will no longer be sufficient to “lock in” an early effective date for the benefits you are seeking. Instead, to establish the earliest possible effective date for their benefits, applicants should immediately notify VA of their intent to file a claim by using VA’s new “Intent to File a Claim” formal process.
2. Consult your representative. NVLSP strongly recommends that you talk with your service officer before filing your formal claim (for example, the VA Form 21-526EZ).
3. Add the following statement to your attempts to claim VA compensation benefits. Frequently, veterans suffer from multiple disabilities or illnesses linked to their military service. Sometimes, veterans do not list all of their conditions on their application for benefits. The new rules make it more difficult to obtain benefits for conditions that are not specifically identified in the benefits application. While there is no way to ensure that you will be able to obtain benefits for conditions that are not expressly stated in an application, NVLSP recommends including the following statement in your VA Form 21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim):
“In addition to my claim for (claim), I also wish to claim service connection for all disabilities for which the evidence of record, including the evidence in my service records, supports a reasonable possibility of service connection. Therefore, I ask the VA to carefully review my service records, especially my service treatment records, and consider for service connection all conditions that are reasonably inferred from the review of the entire evidence of record including my service treatment records. I also request that you send me the appropriate VA Form to perfect my application.”
It is important to remember to fill in the blank with the condition that you are currently seeking service connection for. You can download a copy of VA form 21-4138 with this statement already added to it on NVLSP’s website.
4. File your formal application for VA benefits using only the forms specified by the VA. Veterans and survivors are under no obligation to submit an “intent to file.” They can skip this step and immediately file an application for VA benefits if they believe they have the evidence in hand for a successful application or they believe they have submitted all evidence they can obtain.
Information provided by the National Veterans Legal Services Program
For the original press release, go here, or for more information, visit www.nvlsp.org.
