When Should You File Your VA Disability Appeal? Right Now

By Brett Buchanan, Allsup VA-accredited claims agent

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation program is one federal agency that appears to be operating business as usual during the coronavirus pandemic.

This is worthy of acknowledgment on a normal day, but especially now considering May is Military Appreciation Month.

Based on activities with our Allsup Veterans Disability Appeal Services^®, there has been no slowdown in VA disability appeals decisions for the veterans we assist.

I believe one of the factors in this is that the VA started digitizing their paper claims files in 2013, which allowed them to offer employees the option to work from home a few years later. This means the sizable shift for federal workers from government offices to their home offices was not as significant for the VA. Many procedures are able to continue relatively uninterrupted.

VA Disability Appeals – Three Options

This is good news because the VA is adjusting to a new disability appeals modernization program that was enacted last year.

VA disability appeals now offer three initial paths for veterans to pursue their VA disability appeal.

They are:

• Higher-level review: This review is performed at a Decision Review Operations Center (DROC) and involves re-examining your existing record and evidence.
• Supplemental claim: This review is done at the VA Regional Office (VARO) and involves steps to produce new evidence.
• Appeals to the board: If you take this step, you can appeal directly to the Board of Veterans Appeal, and then you can consider three options.

This may seem to provide an overwhelming range of options, but it doesn’t have to.

Contacting an Allsup VA-accredited claims agent can make a difference for your claim. Our experts can help bring clarity to your choices and take the guesswork out of next steps for your VA disability appeals.

To get started with your VA disability appeal with help from an Allsup VA-accredited claims agent, call (888) 372-1190.