Short, plain-language videos about how VA disability claims work, made by a retired Army vet who has been through the process. No referral fees, no cut of your back pay, no claim shark pitch.
Every topic below links to the full written guide on this site, so you can watch the short version or read the long one. Both are free.
New videos go up on @vareadyapp. Follow there for the short version; the guides on this site go deeper and cite the regulation.
VA does not add your ratings together. It applies each one to whatever is left of you after the last, which is why 50% and 30% comes out at 70% and not 80%. Once you see the order the math runs in, your own rating decision stops looking like a typo.
The exam is the part of a claim that most often decides it, and it is over in twenty minutes. Examiners ask how you are today; the rating schedule asks how you are on an average day and a bad one. Knowing the difference before you walk in is most of the battle.
An Intent to File holds your effective date for one year while you get the rest together. It is one of the few free wins in the whole process, and the one most people find out about after they have already lost months of back pay.
A denial closes one decision, and the claim can keep going. There are three lanes and they are not interchangeable: one takes new evidence, one does not, and one goes to a judge. Picking the wrong lane costs you months.
TDIU pays at the 100% rate without a 100% schedular rating, when service-connected conditions keep you from holding steady work. Plenty of vets qualify for years without knowing the option exists.
One rated condition can cause another, and the second one is claimable on its own. Sleep apnea from PTSD, a bad knee from the other knee, depression from chronic pain. These are some of the most commonly missed points on the whole schedule.
Where you served can make a condition presumptive, which means you do not have to prove the link. Burn pits, Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune, radiation. If your service touched one of these lists, the evidence bar for certain conditions drops sharply.
A VSO is a VA-accredited rep who files and manages your claim, and they do it for free. Nobody accredited can charge you to file an initial claim. If someone is asking for a cut of your back pay, that is the signal to walk.
The in-depth filing guides are Pro in VA Ready for iOS, Vet Ready for Android and VA Ready for Windows; the combined-rating calculator, claim list, exposure catalog, VSO finder and symptom tracker are free.