What Are The Most Common Va Disability Claims
Veterans seek VA benefits for a large variety of service-connected disabilities. The most common disabilities range from musculoskeletal conditions to mental health disorders.
These are some of the most common conditions veterans file claims for:
- Limitation of Flexion of the Knee
- Lumbar and Cervical Strains
- Paralysis of the Sciatic Nerve
- Limitation of Motion of the Ankle
- Limitation of Motion of the Arm
Two Types Of Va Disability Ratings
When the Department of Veterans Affairs receives your claim and begins processing it, it may determine that there is a direct service connection. The VA Disability Compensation Effective Date which will help determine whether or not you are entitled to VA disability back pay depending on when your pay actually started versus one of two factors:
- The date the VA receives the claim
- The date you first got the claimed illnesses or injuries
In cases where the VA gets a veterans claim within a year of leaving the military, the effective date can be as early as the day following separation.
The other type of VA disability claim may fall under a presumptive service connection. VA rules in this area state that in many cases, if the VA assumes your condition is related to military service and the agency gets a medical claim for conditions that fall into the presumptive category within one year of your separation from active servicethen the effective date is the date you first got your illness or injury.
Va Disability Back Pay: How It Works & When To File
When a veteran first files his or her VA disability claim, it may take months or years for the VA to approve it. But that doesnt mean the VA starts paying out benefits beginning with the date on which it approves a claim. No instead, the VA is responsible for awarding disability benefits going all the way back to a veterans effective date, meaning the date when the claim was first submitted or when entitlement arose . These payments constitute what is referred to as VA disability back pay, and it has a few subtle rules that complicate how you get it and how much youre owed.
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Contact Tuley Law Office Today
At Tuley Law Office, we specialize in veterans disability benefits. If you are a veteran of the United States military and have questions about receiving VA back pay, contact the attorneys at Tuley Law Office today. Applying for benefits and receiving the back pay you deserve can be a challenge, but our experienced legal team can answer questions you may have about the process.
With Dependents Including Children
Compensation rates for 30% to 60% disability rating
Find the dependent status in the left column that best describes you. Then look for your disability rating in the top row. Your basic monthly rate is where your dependent status and disability rating meet.
If you have more than one child or your spouse receives Aid and Attendance benefits, be sure to also look at the Added amounts table, and add these to your amount from the Basic monthly rates table.
| Dependent status | 30% disability rating | 40% disability rating | 50% disability rating | 60% disability rating | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent status | Each additional child under age 18 | 30% disability rating | 30.00 | 40% disability rating | 40.00 | 50% disability rating | 50.00 | 60% disability rating | 60.00 |
| Each additional child over age 18 in a qualifying school program | 30% disability rating | 97.00 | 40% disability rating | 129.00 | 50% disability rating | 162.00 | 60% disability rating | 194.00 | |
| Spouse receving Aid and Attendance | 30% disability rating | 56.00 | 40% disability rating | 74.00 | 50% disability rating | 93.00 | 60% disability rating | 111.00 |
Compensation rates for 70% to 100% disability rating
Find the dependent status in the left column that best describes you. Then look for your disability rating in the top row. Your basic monthly rate is where your dependent status and disability rating meet.
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Do Not Assume Your Claim Has Been Processed Mistake
Human error is a fact of life. VA claims may be assigned incorrect effective dates, your actual compensation amount may not match the percentage you were told you are receiving, your claim may be stuck in the system, etc.
There are many variables involved in the VA claims process and veterans are strongly encouraged to carefully review all VA communication regarding their back pay and claims if you find errors or have questions its best to contact the VA immediately to start addressing the issue-the longer you wait, the more complicated it may be to fix the problem.
View And Print The Details From Our Va Disability Back Pay Calculator
If you press the little grey button at the bottom that says View Calculation Details youll see how your back pay was computed. You can print this out for future reference. You can also print it out to check and see how it compares once you win your claim.
If you want to be totally overwhelmed with the data tables for calculating your VA disability back pay, click the grey View Rating Tables button. We use that for internal use here at Woods and Woods, The Veterans Firm. If you want to see behind the scenes, we make that info transparent and available to you too.
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How Does The Va Rate Disabilities
When it comes to service connected compensation claims, the VA takes the view that it should not add whole numbers together to get your rating but, instead, the VA takes percentages of percentages. It is as if the VA says if you are 10% disabled then you are 90% healthy. Therefore, the next rating is not added but is used to take a percentage of the healthy 90%. So for a veteran with two 10 ratings the first ten percent rating would be 10% of 100, which is 10%. The second ten percent rating would be 10% of the 90% , which is 9%. So the combined rating would be 19%. The percentages are all rounded up or down to the nearest ten percent. Here, the rating would be rounded to 20%.
The combined rating system starts to work against a veteran when he gets closer to 100%. It gets harder and harder to get that higher rating, especially once a veteran is over 50%. For instance, if a veteran has a ratings of 50% for PTSD, 50% for Sleep Apnea, a rating of 20% for diabetes and 20% for a back problem the combined rating is 80%. So even though 50+50+20+20 equals 140 in real math it is only 80 in VA math.
Va Disability Back Pay: Retroactive Benefits & Va Back Pay Timeline
Veterans who are injured or disabled during military service are entitled to financial compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs . To earn these benefits, veterans must file a claim detailing the severity of their injury and the in-service event that caused it.
Although veterans can submit a claim soon after their service, they may not receive any benefits until VA finishes processing their decision. Veterans will receive VA disability back pay for the time between their initial claim and VAs first payout.
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What Are Some Common Myths About Va Disability Back Pay
One common myth about VA disability back pay is that it always automatically goes back to the date of the original injury or onset of a disabling condition. That isnt always the case. If you apply for VA benefits after youve separated from service, the VA generally does not consider the date of an injury or disabling event as an effective date.
A second commonly held myth is that VA disability benefits always go back to the date of discharge, which also is incorrect. The VA typically only pays disability compensation going back to the date of discharge to veterans who apply for their VA disability benefits within one year of being discharged. All of this underscores the need to submit your VA disability benefits claim as soon as possible.
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Dependency And Indemnity Compensation
For claims based on a Veterans death in service, the effective date is the first day of the month in which the Veteran died, or was presumed to have died. This is true only if we get the claim within one year of the date of the report of the Veterans actual or presumed death. Otherwise, the effective date is the date we get the claim.
If the Veterans death happened after service and we get the claim within one year of their death, the effective date is the first day of the month in which the Veteran died.
If the death happened after service and we get the claim more than one year after the Veterans death, the effective date is the date we get the claim.
Using The Va Combined Rating Table To Calculate Your Va Disability Rating
For all the confusion around VA math, determining your disability rating using the Combined Rating Table is actually pretty straightforward. Weve reproduced the VA Combined Rating Table in full at the bottom of this post for your reference. To use the rating table, you need to start with the highest disability percentage, and from there arrange them in order of severity, highest to lowest. Find the highest disability in the left column and the next highest disability in the top row. The number where the column and row meet will represent the combined value of both disabilities. So, returning to the example of John, we find the number at the intersection of Johns 60% PTSD rating and his 30% disabling back injury, which is 72%.
Next, we use this combined value of 72% for the left column, and then find the next highest disability on the top row, which is Johns 10% left knee. The number at the intersection of 72% and 10% is 75%.
Repeating the same process once more, we use 75% for the left column and find the 10% for hearing loss in the top row, giving us 78%. The last step is to round up or down to the nearest 10. Thats how the VA arrived at that 80% rating for Johns combined disabilities.
Need help with a claim? Give us a call today at , or hit the button below to schedule a free consultation.
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Best Va Disability Calculator: How Do I Calculate My Combined Va Disability Rating
The amount of monthly tax-free disability compensation youll receive depends on your overall combined VA rating, which is based on a fuzzy VA Math calculation.
Veterans can use our #1 rated VA disability calculator to calculate your VA rating percentage quickly, and determine your monthly payment amount, in just a few clicks.
How Do I Know If My Va Disability Back Pay Is Correct
Once a decision has been made, the VA will send you a retroactive pay letter. This letter will list the amount of pay youre owed and will be receiving, and the effective date of your benefits. Pay extra attention to the effective date listed on this letter. If this date is wrong, you may be receiving less retroactive pay than youre owed!
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What Other Factors Does The Va Take Into Account For Disability
When deciding on a disability claim, the VA looks at your eligibility first. Then, it considers your conditions overall impact on your daily life, activities and employability.
If you think your VA rating is too high or too low, you can file an appeal to try to get the VA to increase your rating. Be sure to include evidence of your conditions impact on your life, like statements from doctors, employers or others close to you.
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Filing The Initial Claim
You have the option upon leaving military service to file a VA claim for compensation as part of your final out-processing appointments in many cases, even if you are retiring or separating from an overseas location.
But not all service members will have the circumstance or opportunity to do this VA rules state that a service member can apply before or after leaving military service, though the window for doing so after becoming a civilian may be limited depending on circumstances.
What does this mean?
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Va Retro Pay For Dependents
Veterans can also earn VA disability back pay for dependents. If a veteran did not have dependents to add at the time of their claim or simply neglected to add existing ones, they may be eligible for additional back pay. An individual has 365 days after their original application to apply for VA disability back pay for dependents if they hope to keep the effective date of their initial claim. If they wait more than one year before filing for a spouse, child, or another dependent, their back pay will likely only extend back to the time they filed a claim for extra dependents.
What Is My Date Of Eligibility
If you are submitting your claim within 1 year of your discharge date, then your date of eligibility is the same as your discharge date. If you submitted after the one-year mark, then your date of eligibility is usually the first day of the month after your claim is submitted. It is usually the same as the effective date of your condition ratings that can be found on your Rating Decision.
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Your Monthly Payment Amount Is
Have you ever wondered how the VA came up with the combined rating that it gave you? Have you ever noticed that 1 + 1 does not equal 2 with the VA? One of the most common complaints we get from veterans is How in the world did the VA get the combined rating that they did with all the ratings I have?
What Is An Effective Date
Your effective date is the date the VA will use to determine when exactly your back pay should start. There are a couple of different ways that the VA can determine your effective date. It can use either the date on which you submitted your VA disability benefits claim, or if your condition developed a long time before, the VA can choose to grant you back pay all the way back to the onset of your medical condition or physical disability.
If you wait to apply for VA disability benefits until a year or more after youve already separated from military service, its highly unlikely that the VA will extend your back pay to the time of your injury or disability onset. And if you apply for your disability benefits within a year of military discharge, the VA generally will only pay back benefits from the time of your discharge date.
The effective date for a disability that was either directly caused or made worse by military service is typically aligned with the later of the following choices: the date the VA received your claim or the date of onset of the injury or medical condition. In most cases, if the VA believes, based on the information presented in your claim, that your disabling condition is related to your military service this is known as presumptive service connection. The VA will consider your effective date as the date you received the injury or medical condition, as long as you apply for compensation within one year of being discharged.
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How Does The Va Calculate Disability Back Pay
Its important to determine your starting date when calculating disability back pay from the Veterans Administration. According to the information posted by the agency, determining the start date is usually straightforward. Its the date that you apply for disability benefits. Actually, the rule states that its the latter of two dates: the application date and the date that the disability becomes evident or increases in intensity.
For example, you might be granted a 40% disability based on back pain after a couple of appeals. You applied on January 3, 2021, but the claim was denied in February. Finally, after several appeals, your disability was granted on May 3, 2021. Therefore, your start date would be your application date January 3, 2021.
You would receive back pay from January 3, 2021, until May 3, 2021, of 40% of your regular service payment. After that, retroactive payments are paid in one lump sum, and afterward, youre entitled to monthly installments to supplement your regular income.