You can appeal a VA decision

Higher-Level Review

VA Form 20-0996 — within 1 year of the date on your decision letter.

• An experienced higher-level reviewer who did not take part in your original decision looks at your claim again.
• That reviewer can also find and return the claim for a duty-to-assist error — an error where VA failed to do its own part in getting your records or scheduling your exam.
• No new evidence. Nothing new may be added in this lane. It is for when VA had what it needed and still got it wrong.
• You can ask for one informal conference — a call to point out the errors you see. VA makes reasonable efforts to hold one conference. It is not a guarantee.
• You cannot request a Higher-Level Review after a previous Higher-Level Review or Board Appeal on the same issue.

Supplemental Claim

VA Form 20-0995 — no filing deadline.

• This is the lane for new and relevant evidence VA has not already considered: new medical records, a nexus letter, buddy statements, service records you finally got your hands on.
• A nexus letter is a letter from a medical provider connecting your condition to your military service.
• A buddy statement is a written statement from someone who served with you, or who lives with you, describing what they saw.
• The one-year mark here is about money, not about your right to file. Filing within one year of the date on your decision letter is how you protect the earliest effective date for benefits later granted. File later and you can still win — you may just lose the back pay for the months in between.

Board Appeal

VA Form 10182, the Notice of Disagreement — within 1 year of the date on your decision letter.

Your case goes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals and a Veterans Law Judge. You choose one of three dockets, and the docket decides your evidence rules and the Board's own decision goal:

• Direct Review — no new evidence at all. The judge decides on the record as it stood when VA made its decision. Board goal: 365 days.
• Evidence Submission — you may send new evidence with your Form 10182, or within 90 days of the date VA receives your request for a Board Appeal. Board goal: 550 days.
• Hearing — you speak with a Veterans Law Judge. You may submit new evidence at the hearing, or within 90 days after the hearing. If the judge tells you to go get something, that is the window you have to send it in. Board goal: 730 days.

Higher-Level Review or Supplemental Claim — a quick checklist

VA's own goal for both is about the same: an average of 125 days.

Choose a Higher-Level Review if…

• You believe VA made a clear error — missed evidence that was already in your file, or applied the law wrong.
• The evidence already in your file was strong.
• You have no new evidence to send.

Choose a Supplemental Claim if…

• You have new and relevant evidence: new records, a nexus letter, a buddy statement, an updated exam or Disability Benefits Questionnaire.
• You were denied for “no nexus” or “not enough evidence” and can now fix that reason with stronger proof.
• You may need a new medical opinion. VA may schedule you for another C&P exam in this lane — if it does, do not miss it.

What counts as “new and relevant” — and what does not

New means VA has not considered it before. Relevant means it tends to prove or disprove something in your claim.

Counts

• New medical records — recent treatment notes, a diagnosis or test results that are not already in your file.
• A nexus letter or medical opinion from a qualified provider connecting your condition to service, or to a condition you are already service-connected for.
• A new or updated exam, including a private Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) completed by your own provider, that gives details VA did not have.
• Lay statements from you, family, friends or coworkers describing how the condition affects you — the more specific and detailed, the more useful.
• Buddy statements, incident reports, photos or service records not previously submitted.
• Evidence that the condition has gotten worse since the last decision.

Does not count

• The same evidence again — records or statements VA already had. Anything that was already in your file at the time of the last decision is not new.
• “I disagree with the decision” and nothing more. A difference of opinion about the outcome is what a Higher-Level Review is for, not what makes new evidence.
• The same lay statement or nexus letter re-sent with no new details.
• General articles or internet printouts that say nothing about your own case.
• Records that do not touch the reason for the denial. Read the decision, find the reason, and send evidence aimed at that reason.

When medical opinions conflict

Two opinions that disagree do not automatically mean a denial.

• VA has to look at all the evidence — your private doctor's opinion, the C&P exam and your treatment records — and consider how much each one is worth (38 CFR 4.6). It is not a headcount of which one says yes.
• Reports are read against your whole history. A rating specialist is supposed to reconcile the different reports, and an exam report that is inadequate — for example, one that lacks enough detail or support — is to be sent back for more information (38 CFR 4.2).
• Benefit of the doubt: when the evidence for and against is in approximate balance, the doubt is resolved in your favor (38 CFR 3.102).
• VA itself says it values evidence from your private treatment providers, because they know your history, often over a long time.

Read your C&P report and ask:

• Did the examiner review your full records?
• Did the examiner address your private doctor's opinion?
• Are the facts the examiner relied on accurate?
• Did the examiner explain the reasoning, not just give a conclusion?
• Did the examiner consider your own statements and history?

Then pick the lane:

• Higher-Level Review if the decision misweighed evidence already in your file.
• Supplemental Claim if you can add something new — a stronger, more detailed private opinion, or new records.
• Board Appeal if you want a Veterans Law Judge to look at it.

One lane at a time — and one exception that bites

• While a review is pending on an issue, you cannot file under a different option on that same issue. Wait for that decision, then choose again.
• No second Higher-Level Review after a prior Higher-Level Review or Board Appeal on the same issue.
• All three can be filed online at VA.gov or by mail on the form for your lane.

Accredited help — and which kind is free

VSO, claims agent and attorney are not the same thing. The difference is your money.

• A VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative works your VA benefit claim for free. Always. Recognized organizations and their accredited representatives are not permitted to receive fees for this work.
• An accredited attorney or claims agent may charge you — but only after VA has issued notice of an initial decision on the claim. Nobody may charge you to file your original claim.
• A fee of no more than 20% of your past-due benefits is presumed reasonable.
• A fee agreement must be filed with VA within 30 days of being signed. Ask to see that it was.

The Board is not the end of the road

A denial from the Board closes one door. It does not close the building.

• You may appeal a Board denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The deadline is 120 days after the date notice of the Board's decision is issued.
• You may ask the Board to reconsider its decision.
• You may file a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence — and that lane still has no filing deadline.

What to do the week the letter lands

Real phone numbers and official pages

• VA benefits hotline: 800-827-1000, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. TTY: 711.
• VA health care: 877-222-8387.
• MyVA411 main information line: 800-698-2411.
• Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1.
• Veteran's Strategic Solutions LLC: 785-579-9071.