If you are a veteran seeking disability benefits through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), you may be concerned about what to do. After all, navigating a government bureaucracy can be complicated, more so if you are dealing with a disability at the same time. Fortunately, however, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances to receive your veterans’ disability benefits.
- Get your paperwork together
- As part of the application process, you will need certain pieces of information. This includes your most recent tax return, your Social Security number and the Social Security numbers of any dependents you have, and information on any medical insurance you already have. Getting this information ready in advance will make the process of applying for benefits a lot more smoothly, and can help avoid getting denied for not providing adequate information.
- Make sure your personal information is accurate
- Before you submit an application, make sure all the information you have supplied is accurate. While this may seem like a simple problem, a surprising number of applications for veterans’ disability benefits are denied due to simple paperwork errors. Double check everything before you submit it, or otherwise you might be denied and forced to go through the whole process again.
- Provide sources for any additional medical evidence
- If you are a veteran, then chances are that most of the evidence for your disability claim will already be in the hands of the VA, and they will collect your military medical records on their own. However, some medical conditions related to military service may not arise until months or years after you have already left the system. In that case, you will need to provide the contact information for any doctors you have received medical assistance from.
- Get a trained professional to help
- You are allowed to get a trained professional, such as an attorney, to assist you in preparing your application. While anyone can benefit from the assistance of trained help, it can be particularly useful if you have a disability that limits your ability to handle these matters on your own. A trained professional can help you acquire any documentation you may need, and help you fill out forms to minimize the risk of rejection. Do not be afraid to seek help to get you the benefits you are entitled to.
- Being denied is not the end of the road
- Even if your application for veterans’ disability benefits is initially rejected, that is not necessarily the end of the road for you. The VA has an extensive appeals process available that can get you an opportunity to access benefits that you are initially denied. However, going through an appeal can be difficult, and should not be something you try to handle on your own.
The attorneys of Sullivan & Kehoe place a special focus on assisting disabled veterans. Our veterans’ disability lawyers are still available for remote consultation on your legal issues. Call our office at (800) 395-7830 to schedule a consultation in our New York City, Garden City, Kings Park, Riverhead, or White Plains office, or visit our contact page.
Thanks for pointing out that a trained professional will be able to help acquire the needed documentation that you may need to file a veteran’s disability claim. I will share this tip with a friend of mine so that they can get the money they need for the treatment of their grandfather. He might need surgery, from what I heard, so they would really need additional sources of money to be able to afford the hospital fees.