How to Appeal a Denied Veterans Disability Claim

Appealing a Veterans Administration claim for benefits pursuant to a denial of a Total Disability Income Provision claim and other disability related claims involves carefully following a complicated series of laws and rules that dictate each and every highly exacting requirement necessary.  The appeal process would seem to be the kind of thing best handled by an attorney but below is a snippet synopsis of some of the initial elements needed to accomplish the task.

Who Can File a Veterans Disability Appeal?

A notice of disagreement and/or a Substantive Appeal may be filed by the claimant personally or by his representative. If filed by a representative there must be a proper Power of Attorney or declaration of representation on file with the Veteran’s Administration office that retains the file.  If a claimant is rated incompetent due to a physical, mental or legal disability that prevents him from filing himself a notice of appeal may be filed by a fiduciary appointed to manage his affairs by a court or by the Veteran’s Administration or by a person acting as his next best friend if no fiduciary has been formally appointed.  The Notice of Disagreement and Substantive Appeal must be filed at the Veteran’s Administration office that currently retains the record of the original claim.  If a case has been transferred to another office for any reason the appeal must be filed at that office.

How Does It Work?

If an applicant’s veterans disability claim is rejected for medical reasons the VA will provide him a notice of his procedural and appellate rights and a letter advising him of the reason for the disapproval.  The applicant has one year from the date of that notification letter to file at his local office a Notice of Disagreement and Substantive Appeal.

If a claim was disapproved when the applicant has a service connected disability and the applicant has claimed that the disability has been rated as non-service connected by a regional office and the non-service connected rating is preventing the claim from being approved, the applicant will not be informed of the right to initiate an appeal of the decision.  The applicant must seek to appeal the decision of the regional office first seek to contest the secondary denial based on the local classification of his disability.

Getting Legal Advice

If you or a member of your family has received notice that a Veteran’s Administration Total Disability Income Provision claim was denied and filing a Notice of Disagreement and Substantive Appeal of the decision is contemplated it may be helpful to discuss the appeal with a disability lawyer.