This video is the first of a series of videos about reading a VA decision, understanding it, and then what to do with a bad one. A good place to start is just a quick review of the things the VA is supposed to include in all their decisions.
38 U.S.C. § 5104 requires the VA to send you and your representative if you have one, notice of the decisions they make on your claim for benefits. And that notice is required to include some specific things such as:
- Identification of the issues adjudicated. (generally each disability you’ve claimed)
- A summary of the evidence considered by the Secretary.
- A summary of the applicable laws and regulations.
- Identification of findings favorable to the claimant.
- In the case of a denial, identification of elements not satisfied leading to the denial.
- An explanation of how to obtain or access the evidence used in making the decision.
- If applicable, identification of the criteria that must be satisfied to grant service connection or the next higher level of compensation.
- Your options to appeal the decision if you don’t like it.
The VA’s regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(f), restates all of these although slightly different.
So that’s the information the VA has to give you, but how do they go about it. As I’m sure you know, when the VA sends you a decision, you get a lot of paper in the mail, which can usually be broken down into two primary documents, the notice letter and the rating decision. All of that information needs to be somewhere in the notice letter or the decision.
The notice letter looks more typical letter, and it will usually start with the phrase “We made a decision on your claim….” Or “We made a decision on your VA benefits…” Also, the notice letters will include all the standard VA documents that describe your appeal options and other benefits that may be available to you.
On the other hand, the rating decision has a much different heading with a lot of the main information centered on the page and should have the phrase “Rating Decision.” And the rating decision, of course, is where the VA gets into the details of why they granted or denied your claim. Or at least they are supposed to, but they don’t always, which is very frustrating.
Now, I’m going to make more videos going into more depth on VA decisions, so watch for those coming up. I’m afraid if I did it all in one video, it would be much longer than I like these videos to be. But I hope that you found this quick overview helpful. If you did please give it a thumbs up, that’d help other veterans find it. And if you want me to help you with your disability claim, you can reach out to me through my website, walshvetlaw.com. Thanks for watching.