The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has numerous ways of assessing how disabled a Veteran is and whether he or she can sustain gainful employment. In addition to the traditional rating system, the VA can also offer Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability, which would allow you to be compensated at the same rate as a Veteran with 100% disability. Unfortunately, even if you receive this designation, it is not necessarily permanent.
A Veteran with TDIU disability benefits could end up losing those benefits if the service-connected conditions that originally prevented him or her from sustaining gainful employment improves, or if the Veteran starts working again.
Most Veterans do not receive an income from a job while receiving TDIU, but those who do have a job are not permitted to earn above the poverty threshold without having the benefits terminated. If this pay-raise does occur, you must inform the VA about the change. The VA does not readjust the benefits to accommodate the income change, it would simply be terminated.
If you lose your TDIU disability benefits, you can reapply at a later point if your situation changes. There is no limit to how often you can apply, nor is there any waiting period before you can reapply.
You do still receive due process when the VA initiates a proposal to terminate Total Disability Individual Unemployability. You have 30 days to submit the appeal, which is considered a request for hearing. Otherwise, you would receive a final decision and the VA will notify you of the day you would stop receiving benefits. You do have the right to contest this decision.
To avoid having your TDIU benefits terminated, you must prove you are not currently working for income, or that any income you are receiving does not put you above the poverty threshold. One of our Veterans disability attorneys could submit a request for a hearing on the termination of TDIU if you do, in fact, still meet the income threshold.
TDIU benefits are a life-saver for many Veterans who are completely disabled and do not have the income required to maintain their routine expenses. While earning more than the poverty threshold would improve your financial stability, there are times when you might be wrongly notified of benefits termination. Talk to our team of Veteran advocate to discuss how to save your benefits.
