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Cover of A VA Disability Claims Manual for the Rest of Us by J. Erickson
Book by J. Erickson

A VA Disability Claims Manual for the Rest of Us

Filing, Evidence, Appeals, and Working Your Own Claim

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About this book

Most denied veterans had a real condition. What they lacked was a file built the way the VA reads it. This manual walks the whole VA disability claim in plain language: the three things a claim has to prove, the evidence that proves them, the right form and lane for each step, how to read a decision letter and the codesheet behind it, and how to protect a rating once you have one.

Inside this book

  1. 1Why This Guide Exists
  2. 2The System and Its Weak Spots
  3. 3Prepping Your Claim Like a Pro
  4. 4Filing Smart, Fighting Clean
  5. 5Reading the Decision Letter and What to Do Next
  6. 6Strategic Appeals and How to Fight Back
  7. 7Increases, Secondaries, and Reopened Claims
  8. 8Beyond the Rating, Advanced Benefits
  9. 9Protect Your Rating
  10. 10Manage Your File and Activate Benefits
  11. 11The First 72 Hours After the Grant
  12. 12Help the Next One
  13. 13Reference Kit

The chapters follow one composite veteran, Owen, from a denial letter read in the cab of his truck to the day he sits across the kitchen table from a friend who has never filed. Specimen documents show a decision letter, a codesheet, two nexus letters, a buddy statement and a proposal to reduce, each annotated line by line.

Pairs with

Free guides and worksheets need no signup and no book. Books and workbooks are coming soon.

Workbook · Coming soonThe Master VA Claim WorkbookFree guideAdding or Removing a Dependent (VA Form 21-686c)Free guideBuilding a Complete VA Claim, Start to DecisionFree guideDo You Even Have a ClaimFree guideFile Online at VA.govFree guideFile a Fully Developed ClaimFree guideFile on Paper, by MailFree guideFiling Your First VA Disability ClaimFree guideFiling a Direct Service-Connection ClaimFree guideFiling a Hemorrhoids ClaimFree guideFiling a Presumptive Service-Connection ClaimFree guideFiling a Scars ClaimFree guideFiling an Aggravation ClaimFree guideFiling an Eczema or Dermatitis ClaimFree guideGather Your Evidence, the Three LegsFree guideGet Your C-FileFree guideIntent to File, Lock Your DateFree guideRead and Understand Your Decision LetterFree guideWrite Your Personal Statement (VA Form 21-4138)Free worksheetBuddy Statement PackFree worksheetFive Ten TwentyFree worksheetFlare LogFree worksheetNot All FiveFree worksheetProstratingFree worksheetThe Frozen RecordFree worksheetThe Reason UnderneathFree worksheetTwo Week RecordFree worksheetVA Math WorksheetFree worksheetWhere You WereFree worksheetWork History Record
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J. Erickson's author image: Air Force uniform ribbons and rank insignia
About the author

J. Erickson

Author, educator, former veteran service officer.

J. Erickson is a service-disabled Air Force veteran. He served as a military firefighter and as a veteran service officer, where he spent years walking veterans through the same claims process he writes about now. He holds an MBA and writes plain-language guides for veterans who want to understand the system without a translator.

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