4 Reasons We Won’t Take a Veteran’s Disability Claim

Personally I think making a New Year’s resolution is as pretentious as buying a pumpkin spice latte in October. I don’t make real ones, and I think blasting about it on Facebook, or for the very lonely, Google Plus, is just a cry for attention. When I set out for change I simply do it. Earlier this year, not so early to be considered a resolution of any sort, I decided to be very upfront with people in my life. Instead of letting something get under my skin and smolder for a while, I’ll simply let someone know they are irritating me. On the other end, if I think you are awesome, I’ll let it be known. I brought this practice into my personal life because being passive-aggressive got me nowhere. It’s actually something I have practiced in my professional life since joining this firm.

I’ve always believed in being upfront with Veterans about taking them on as clients. Our firm as a whole is very clear with any potential new VA client on the subject of becoming a client. VA Disability is not a quick or easy process. We make it very clear that we don’t sign up everyone who walks in the door. Some might read that and think we are up on our high horse; that we believe getting represented by us is the greatest thing in the world. This is anything but the truth. I look at it this way. I’d rather a car dealer tell me up front that I can’t get financing for the car I want than waiting 8-12 months. We believe our Veterans deserve to be told upfront if we can help. Here are 4 reasons we won’t take you on as a client.

1. Bad Discharges. For the most part, individuals with an honorable, general, and sometimes even an Other Than Honorable Discharge, can qualify for benefits. However, if you inform me that you have a dishonorable discharge you won’t be represented by our firm. Simply, individuals with a dishonorable discharge are not entitled to VA disability. What I will do is inform you that you need to look into getting your discharge upgraded. I will even explain how to do that and point you in the right direction.
2. No disabilities. This may seem like I am attempting to make comedy, but I am serious. Some individuals want to pursue VA Disability even if they have no injuries from their time in service and don’t qualify for presumptive conditions. (Granted, different rules apply for pension.) Simply put, we can’t pursue VA Disability if you don’t meet the most basic requirements.
3. No treatment. This is actually one of the most common reasons we turn down a Veteran. If you were discharged in 1987, and haven’t sought any treatment for that back injury for 20 plus years, it’s going to be a bit of a stretch to get that service connected through the VA. More often we see examples like a veteran worked as a coal miner during those 20 years, or had a severe car wreck that injured his back.
4. Disabilities not related to your time in service. This kind of goes a long with the reasons I mentioned in number two, but it is different. We often see examples in which a Veteran served his or her time, was honorably discharged, and then was injured down the line. An example of this may be that he or she was injured after service while on the job, in a car wreck, or even in their everyday life. While these are disabilities you can pursue through different legal avenues, they won’t get service connected.

There are other reasons we won’t take on a VA Disability claim, but these are the most common. Honestly we will give most individuals a chance if we believe there is at least a possibility of them getting service connection. We have several different review processes in place to evaluate a claim. We say yes a lot more often than we say no. However, we won’t take a case any further if we know we can’t get a Veteran service connected. We don’t believe in wasting a Veteran’s time. We know other attorneys and service organizations will throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. That practice is not very efficient.

Overall, evaluating VA cases is not an easy task. I have been doing it for nearly four years now. While I am not as timid as I once was, it is still not easy to tell a Veteran we can’t help them.

If you would like to speak to me personally about becoming a VA client, give me a call via our toll-free number: 1-877-526-3457. However, if this is not a convenient time, fill out this form and one of our reps will call you at a time that works better for you.

As far as being upfront with people in my personal life, it’s worked out pretty well. I have saved a lot of time by not overthinking things, and I have even had compliments from others for being so direct.