Why You Need a Advocate for a Veterans Disability Claim

For many years veterans have been frustrated by the difficulty of finding an advocate for a veteran’s disability claim for pension and compensation. However, a new advocate should now make it much easier to find veterans disability advocates since the new advocate lifts the ban on hiring advocates early in the process. It should be noted that there are some groups still trying to get this advocate changed back. Hopefully these groups will be unsuccessful.

The way it stands now is if a notice of disagreement is submitted before June 20, 2007 then you can hire an advocate after the first final decision by the BVA or Board of Veterans Appeals, if you hire them within one year. If notice of disagreement is submitted after June 20, 2007 you can hire an advocate after the filing of that notice of disagreement. You can also hire a advocate if you have a case in federal court.

So how will hiring a advocate help you with your VA disability claim? Any of you who have had any experience in dealing with the VA now realize that although the system is supposed to be a veteran friendly system it can oftentimes be anything but that. The advocates that govern VA compensation and pension claims are extremely complex and many times difficult to understand. Advocates go to advocate school to learn how to read and understand complicated advocates and regulations. They can use this knowledge to apply the representative to the facts of your particular case and present the best case possible in the form of a brief or oral argument to help you win. Probably the most important function of a advocate is to develop the evidence you need to win your particular case. Often times these cases require additional medical development including reports from doctors. A advocate can help you find evidence the VA might have told you does not exist or they were unable to find. A representative can also craft a letter to your doctor or an independent medical exam. This can be extremely important. The VA can be very particular about what is an acceptable report from a doctor and they will often disregard reports from doctors if they don’t use the language the VA considers acceptable. Not every case needs an advocate, but if you were already denied, or are having difficulty understanding the VA system and advocates and how they pertain to your particular case, it may be a good idea to consult with one.

Legal Assistance with Veterans’ Claims

If you need help supporting a claim for VA disability compensation call our advocates for veterans at (855) 855-8992 or complete our free online veterans disability case evaluation form.