Did you know?

How to research your own benefits

You do not have to take anybody's word for what you rate — mine included. The rules are published. Here is where they live, how to get your own records, and the forms and deadlines that decide whether you get paid.

← Back to vsgsolutions.org Start at VA.gov
Veterans Crisis Line — dial 988, then press 1. Text 838255. Chat at veteranscrisisline.net. TTY 711 then 988, or 1-800-799-4889. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You do not have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to connect.
Why do this yourself. Knowledge does not guarantee eligibility — eligibility depends on your own circumstances. But it lets you ask the right question, bring the right evidence, and check anything anybody tells you. Always verify against the official government pages. For general VA questions, MyVA411 is 1-800-698-2411, 24 hours a day; press 9 for a service recovery specialist.
Step one

The VA.gov program pages

One page per benefit, in VA's own words.

★ Read VA's page before you read anybody's opinion.
The real authority

What actually governs your decision

Three layers, in order of weight.

  • The law — 38 U.S.C., "Veterans' Benefits." Read it at uscode.house.gov.
  • The regulations — 38 CFR. The current text lives on the electronic Code of Federal Regulations: ecfr.gov/current/title-38. Two parts matter most. Part 3 is adjudication — secondary service connection at 3.310, presumptive service connection at 3.307 and 3.309. Part 4 is the rating schedule.
  • VA's internal manual — M21-1, the Adjudication Procedures Manual. It is now published in VA's KnowVA knowledge base at knowva.ebenefits.va.gov. The old WARMS address is gone — do not use it.
M21-1 is not law. It is VA's instruction to its own adjudicators. By regulation — 38 CFR 20.105 — the Board of Veterans' Appeals "is bound by applicable statutes, regulations of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and precedent opinions of the General Counsel" and "is not bound by Department manuals, circulars, or similar administrative issues." So lead with the statute or the regulation, and use M21-1 to show how VA is supposed to apply it.
Check the date on anything you rely on. Superseded VA guidance still circulates online and is often stricter than the rule in force today. Confirm a manual provision or letter is current before you build an argument on it.
★ Statute, then regulation, then manual.
Ratings — money

Part 4 is where your percentage comes from

Sending you to "38 CFR" without naming Part 4 is sending you into a book with no map.

  • 38 CFR Part 4 — Schedule for Rating Disabilities. Your diagnostic code and the criteria for each percentage are in here: ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4.
  • 38 CFR 4.25 — the Combined Ratings Table. VA does not add your ratings together. Two 50 percent ratings do not make 100. Read the table before you assume a number.
38 CFR 4.16 — Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). If your service-connected disabilities keep you from substantially gainful employment, you can be paid at the 100 percent rate without a 100 percent schedular rating. The schedular route needs one disability ratable at 60 percent or more, or one ratable at 40 percent or more with a combined rating of 70 percent or more. Below those numbers, do not assume you are out. Under 4.16(b) the rating board is required to submit your case to the Director, Compensation Service, for extraschedular consideration. Read it at ecfr.gov — 38 CFR 4.16.
★ TDIU is the benefit most people never hear about.
Your records

Get your own file — it costs nothing

"Review your records" is useless advice without the how.

  • DD Form 214 and your Official Military Personnel File — free from the National Archives. Request online through eVetRecs or on paper with Standard Form 180: archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records.
  • DD-214 and DEERS enrollment — milConnect, the Defense Department's self-service site: milconnect.dmdc.osd.mil.
  • Your VA medical records — through My HealtheVet or the VA Health and Benefits mobile app.
  • Retired and annuitant pay — Defense Finance and Accounting Service, dfas.mil.
★ Nobody reads your file as carefully as you will.
Before you research

File an Intent to File first

This is pure money, and self-researching veterans lose it every day.

VA Form 21-0966, Intent to File a Claim for Compensation and/or Pension, or Survivors Pension and/or DIC, preserves the date VA receives it as your effective date — the date your money can start from. So file it on day one, then take the time you need to gather evidence.
It dies after one year. You must file the complete claim — VA Form 21-526EZ for disability — within one year of the intent to file. Miss that year and the intent to file expires, VA takes no further action unless you file a new claim or a new intent to file, and you lose the earlier date.
One intent to file covers one benefit type only. File a separate 21-0966 for compensation, for pension, and for DIC. VA explains it at va.gov/resources/your-intent-to-file-a-va-claim.
★ Start the clock, then do the homework.
Deadlines

After a decision: three lanes, three forms

A page that tells you to appeal without giving you the deadline costs you the appeal.

  • Supplemental Claim — VA Form 20-0995. No filing deadline. You submit new and relevant evidence. va.gov/decision-reviews/supplemental-claim
  • Higher-Level Review — VA Form 20-0996. Within 1 year of the decision on your initial claim or Supplemental Claim. A senior reviewer takes a new look at the same evidence. va.gov/decision-reviews/higher-level-review
  • Board Appeal — VA Form 10182. Within 1 year of the decision. Goes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. va.gov/decision-reviews/board-appeal
  • Contested claim — 60 days, and Board Appeal only. If more than one party is claiming the same benefit, you get 60 days from the mailing date and the Board is the only lane. Higher-Level Review and Supplemental Claim are not available.
There is no deadline on a Supplemental Claim, but do not read that as no hurry. Your effective date can turn on when you file. Before a year passes from the date on your decision letter, sit down with an accredited representative and ask what filing date protects your money.
The form numbers, in one place. Disability claim 21-526EZ · Intent to file 21-0966 · Health care 10-10EZ · VR&E 28-1900 · Supplemental Claim 20-0995 · Higher-Level Review 20-0996 · Board Appeal 10182 · Records request Standard Form 180. All VA forms: va.gov/find-forms.
★ The date on the letter starts the clock.
Help and fees

Free help exists. Verify anybody before you pay

The biggest money mistake on a research page is not knowing this part.

VA's own words: "the services an accredited VSO representative provides on your VA benefit claims are always free. But an accredited attorney or claims agent can charge you fees." va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative
  • Under 38 CFR 14.636, recognized organizations and their accredited representatives acting as such are not permitted to receive fees. The one exception is a person separately accredited as an agent or attorney and designated in that individual capacity.
  • An accredited attorney or claims agent may charge only for representation provided after VA issues notice of its initial decision on the claim.
  • A fee of 20 percent or less of past-due benefits is presumed reasonable; a fee over 33 1/3 percent is presumed unreasonable. Both are presumptions that can be rebutted, so 20 percent is not a hard cap — read the agreement.
Only a VA-accredited representative, attorney or claims agent may help you prepare, present or prosecute a claim. Check anyone before you sign or pay, using VA's accreditation search at va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation, or use the representative finder linked from va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative. If somebody who is not accredited charges you for claims help, you can file a complaint with VA.
★ Never pay up front for a claim.
Other official pages

Where else to look

  • VA Public Health — exposures and the health research behind presumptive conditions: publichealth.va.gov
  • PACT Act — toxic-exposure presumptive conditions and the free toxic exposure screening. Search "PACT Act" from the front page of va.gov, or ask at your VA facility about the toxic exposure screening.
  • Veterans Benefits Administration — the benefit-program hub: benefits.va.gov/benefits
  • Board of Veterans' Appeals — department.va.gov/board-of-veterans-appeals
  • VA Publications — VA directives, handbooks and notices at va.gov/vapubs; VHA directives and handbooks at va.gov/vhapublications. This is internal policy, not a benefits portal — useful for research, not for applying.
  • Defense Technical Information Center — discover.dtic.mil holds Department of Defense technical and scientific reports. It holds no personnel, medical or claim records and administers no VA benefit. When I checked, full access required a Defense Department-issued CAC, PIV, ECA or CIV credential and the public reports search was offline. For your own records use the National Archives or milConnect; for exposure rules use VA Public Health and the PACT Act page.
★ Official sources only. Check the date.
My one ask. Learn the difference between a primary condition (the one directly connected to service — plain language, not a regulation term), a secondary condition (caused by a service-connected one, 38 CFR 3.310), an aggravated condition (a non-service-connected condition made worse by a service-connected one, also 3.310), and a presumptive condition (38 CFR 3.307 and 3.309). Four different doors. Most people only ever try the first one.
Related: Ten VA Benefits Most Veterans Never Use · What A VA Rating Actually Unlocks · The Free VA Welcome Kit