VA Disability Claims Guides

Filing a VA disability claim is a process with several distinct stages, and the right path depends on where you are: filing for the first time, fixing a denial, asking for an increase, or appealing a rating you believe is too low. The guides below break each stage into plain language, with the actual VA forms, regulations, and decision lanes you will encounter along the way.

If you are filing for the first time, start with How to File a VA Disability Claim. It walks through gathering your DD-214 and service treatment records, drafting personal and buddy statements, choosing between online (VA.gov), in-person, mail, or VSO-assisted filing, and submitting a claim. If you have already filed, the VA claim status guide explains the eight tracker steps, requests, backward movement, and decision letters. After your initial rating decision, compare the evidence rules and deadlines for a Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, or Board Appeal. Your decision notice controls the deadline for your issues.

Two specialty topics deserve their own guides. The PACT Act added presumptive conditions and covered locations for certain toxic exposures. If your service and diagnosis meet VA's eligibility rules, the guide explains how those presumptions may affect a new or previously denied claim. And secondary service connection may apply under 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 when the evidence shows that a service-connected disability caused or aggravated another disability. Whether it applies depends on the evidence and circumstances of the individual claim.

Before you submit anything, two preparation tools are worth your time: the C&P exam guide explains what the exam is for and how its report becomes one part of the evidence VA reviews. The combined rating calculator estimates how the disability ratings you enter combine under VA math. It does not predict whether VA will grant a claim or what rating VA may assign. If you are deciding who should help you file, VSO vs Attorney vs Claims Consultant compares the three options on cost, accreditation, and when each one makes sense.