What not to put in your lay statement.

When you are trying to convince the VA that you have a certain disability, one of the most important tools available to you is your own statement, or the statement from your spouse, friend, boss; you get the idea… This is often called a lay statement. The VA has a form for it, called Statement in Support of Claim, which you don’t have to use, by the way. But in any case, what is a lay statement?

The answer is not as obvious as you may think. So let me start by talking about the difference between a statement and an opinion. A statement is something like, ‘I watched a guy put his head in an alligator’s mouth.’ An opinion is ‘that guy is an idiot.’ The statement is facts, and the opinion is what the facts mean when you put them all together.

I often see veterans trying to say they have diabetes, or PTSD, or something else in a lay statement. They are stating the medical diagnosis. That is an opinion. And except for some very rare instances, you, as a veteran, are not qualified to say what medical condition you have. You can say something like my psychologist diagnosed me with PTSD. But that really makes my point for me because it shows is what you really need is the treatment record or opinion letter from the psychologist.

You might be thinking, so what… It’s my statement, and I’ll say what I want. I know I have PTSD, and nobody can say otherwise. Well, here’s the risk, the VA is going to look at that statement and say, this guy’s not qualified to say he has PTSD. Therefore, his diagnosis is not credible. And if the diagnosis is not credible, the whole statement is not credible. Now the VA has just decided they don’t have to believe anything you said in your statement, and you’ve just made it easy for them to deny your claim. And not just deny your claim; you’ve made it easier for the VA to defend that denial when you appeal.

Please don’t make it easy for the VA to deny your claim. A good lay statement is crammed full of detailed facts. First things first, stick to your five senses. If you didn’t see it, smell it, touch it, hear it, or taste it, it should not be in your statement. And whatever it is that you experienced, make sure you say how often you see, smell, touch, hear, or taste it. And make sure you describe how those experiences affect your life.  

So that is a lay statement… The facts… what did you experience, how often you experienced it, and how the experience effects your life.

Don’t try to tell the VA that you have PTSD or knee instability, walk through, in great detail, what you experience and how you do your best to deal with it. Let me have your lay statement questions in the comments. If you want me to help you with your claim, you can set up a call with me or shoot me an email through my website. I am Al Walsh, a veteran who likes to help other veterans. Thanks for watching.