VA Disability Primer
What Every Veteran Needs to Know Before Filing
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About this book
The VA disability claims process runs on Title 38 of the U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations, and most veterans walk into it without a map. This primer is a plain-language field manual for the veteran filing a first claim. It explains the three elements every claim must prove, the three paths to service connection, how VA combines ratings and applies the bilateral factor, how to build an evidence package and prepare honestly for a C&P exam, how to read a rating decision and choose a review lane, and how to protect and grow a rating after the first decision.
Inside this book
- 1What VA Disability Compensation Actually Is
- 2The Three Paths to Service Connection
- 3How Ratings Work: The Calculation Behind Your Monthly Check
- 4Building Your Claim: The Evidence Package
- 5Filing Your Claim: How, Where, and With Whom
- 6The C&P Exam: What It Is and How to Prepare
- 7Reading Your Rating Decision
- 8After the Decision: Protecting and Growing Your Rating
- 9The VA Claims Timeline: What to Expect and How to Track It
- 10Your First Claim and Everything After
The book points you to its free field guide, Filing Your First VA Disability Claim (a free download, no signup).
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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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