Claiming disabled veteran benefits should be a very straightforward and easy procedure. If you have served your country in any branch of the military and during the course of that service, something occurred that caused physical or mental damage to you that can be classified as a disability, the country owes you a debt that will be repaid by way of Disabled Veteran Benefits. Unfortunately, it does not work out quite so simply as that.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers everything concerning the welfare of military veterans, regardless of whether or not they were ever in combat. This year, the VA requested a budget of 152.7 billion dollars – money that they are expected to spend wisely. This means that, before they can pay out on any compensation claim or award any benefits, they have to go through approved procedures to confirm that the claimant is indeed a suitably qualified veteran. In the case of those claiming disabled veteran benefits, the VA must determine that the disability is not only real, but also directly attributable to an occurrence that happened during the claimant’s term of service. Should the occurrence have been so traumatic that the veteran had to be discharged from service; then proving that the basic requirements have been met will, indeed, be straightforward. If someone has been shot or lost limbs; it is relatively easy to pinpoint the cause, but, for disabilities like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) or the effects of exposure to Agent Orange; pinpointing precise times, locations and medical symptoms might not be quite so easy.
How Much Will the Veteran Receive?
Once the basics have been established, the next step is to begin the process that will ultimately decide the monetary value to be awarded to the veteran. Effectively, an assessor has to make a judgment as to the seriousness of the disability and how it will affect the veteran’s lifestyle and earning ability from gainful employment. A veteran’s disability may be graded at anything between 0% and 100%. The higher the rating, the more serious the disability has been judged to be and the higher the dollar value of the benefit. It is to be hoped that the assessor does a fair and impartial job, but the claimant does have the right to challenge the rating figure given for his or her disability.
Claiming your Disabled Veteran Benefits can be quite complicated. You may wish to appeal against the rating given by the VA. To better understand the process.
