Disability claims systems can be difficult to manage, and the Veterans Affairs (VA) disability system is no different. Unless you were specifically discharged from government service with a physical disability and corresponding paperwork, getting compensation for the strange and painful changes after the military can be difficulty. Don't give up! With a few techniques for keeping your claim a top priority at your regional VA center, you can see increased progress toward getting the compensation you deserve.

Saving And Transferring Old Information For Appeals

If your disability claim has been denied, you need to look carefully at the reason for denial. Unfortunately, many claims are denied for basic reasons such as insufficient information or missing paperwork.

In some cases, the claim system will ask you for more information. For many initial claims, you may see the often discouraging denial message. Instead of scrapping the old information, create an appeal or new claim with the information needed.

If your claim was denied due to not being connected to military service, you need to produce documents about how the injury or disability was indeed related to military service. This could be in the form of a military or personnel record that didn't make it to the claims process or a news article that proves the event.

Veterans Affairs is available to help, but with so many claims there isn't incentive to dig deeply into each and every veteran's missing information. Instead of waiting on Veterans Affairs, contact a lawyer with investigation and/or military experience.

You'll need to create a presentation of evidence that puts you directly in the place and time of the incident that injured you. As paperwork is often lost in the military, you may need to rely on personal accounts or updated paperwork from previous chains of command to get the proper documentation.

Supporting Evidence For Overseas Injuries

Not every injury is documented the way it should be. Many government branches have been on paper documentation even in the past 10 years, which means your perfect documentation of why and when you were injured may be locked up in a vault or in the trash can of an airport—all depending on who filed the paperwork and if you had access to it.

That said, it isn't impossible to link your injuries to military service. If you were injured, you likely had an entry in a personnel record. An incident report is often filed and sent to a regional administrative command to account for missing workforce power.

Make sure to search your entire chain of command from your work center to the administrative department and every related chain of command for any shred of evidence that places your injuries in the right timeframe. If you need help, a lawyer specializing in disability and Veterans Affairs claims can help. Get in contact with a lawyer, like those at the Law Offices Of Russell J. Goldsmith, to begin planning and negotiations.