Filing a VA disability claim is free, and accredited representatives — including Veterans Service Organization reps and county veterans service officers — will help you do it at no cost. This guide walks through the whole process, from the intent to file that protects your back pay to your options if the claim is denied.
This is general information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. It does not create a representative relationship and it cannot tell you what your specific claim is worth.
Every claim is decided on its own facts and its own evidence. Two veterans with the same diagnosis can receive different ratings and different effective dates.
Free accredited help exists and should be your first call. Accredited Veterans Service Organization representatives, county and state veterans service officers, and other VA-accredited representatives assist with claims at no charge. No one may lawfully charge you a fee for agent or attorney services before VA gives you notice of its initial decision, so nobody should be charging you to prepare and file a first claim.
Verify accreditation in VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation search before sharing documents or personal information with anyone who offers claim help.
Processing statistics, pending-claim counts, and average completion times change constantly. The figures here carry their as-of dates (June 2026 averages; July 20, 2026 inventory); check VA's current data before relying on them.
Compensation rates change annually and are not listed here. Check VA's current rate tables for dollar amounts.
Presumptive condition lists and toxic exposure eligibility continue to expand, and each presumption has its own service, location, date, and sometimes timing or severity requirements. Being diagnosed with a listed condition is not by itself enough. A condition that was denied in the past may qualify now.
Enforcement against unaccredited paid claim companies is actively changing at both the federal and state level. Legislation described here is proposed, not law, and state rules vary.
Regulatory and statutory citations reflect the text available at the time of writing (38 CFR text as published for 2024). Confirm the current version of any regulation before relying on it.
Deadlines and forms occasionally change on VA.gov. Before you rely on a specific number of days or a specific form number in this guide, confirm it on the linked VA page or with an accredited representative.
Step one: file an intent to file, today
An intent to file is a short notice telling VA that a claim is coming. It sets a potential start date — VA calls this the effective date — for your benefits. If the claim is later granted, payments can be backdated to the date VA received the intent to file, not the date you finished the paperwork. Gathering medical records can take months. The intent to file makes sure those months still count.
After you notify VA of your intent to file, you have 1 year to complete and file your claim. You can submit an intent to file online, by phone, by mail, or in person, using VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File a Claim for Compensation and/or Pension, or Survivors Pension and/or DIC). VA also notes that for certain applications started online, you do not need to call or submit a separate intent to file form. You can have only 1 active intent to file at a time, and if you plan to claim a different benefit type — compensation, pension, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation — you must submit a new intent to file for that benefit type.
There is a second, separate protection for people who have just left the military. Under 38 U.S.C. 5110(b)(1), if VA receives an application for disability compensation within one year from the date of discharge or release, the effective date of an award is the day following discharge or release. This only pays off if the claim is ultimately granted — it sets the date, it does not decide the case — but when it applies it can be worth a substantial amount of retroactive pay. Recently separated veterans should not sit on a claim.
One more timing protection: if you start an application on VA.gov and save it to gather documents, VA will recognize the date you started as your date of claim as long as you complete it within 365 days.
What you actually have to prove
A standard service-connection claim rests on three things: you have a current physical or mental disability; you experienced an event, were injured, or became ill during active-duty service; and there is a link between the current condition and that in-service event, injury, or disease. That link is often called a nexus. Missing the link is the single most common reason otherwise-legitimate claims fail.
Evidence that establishes those elements includes VA medical and hospital records, private medical records and hospital reports, service treatment records, military personnel records, and medical opinions from a treating provider. You can also submit lay evidence — sometimes called buddy statements — meaning written accounts from family, friends, or people you served with who saw the injury happen or watched the condition develop. VA has a form for that: VA Form 21-10210 (Lay/Witness Statement). For a mental health condition tied to an in-service traumatic event, VA uses VA Form 21-0781 (Statement in Support of Claimed Mental Health Disorder(s) Due to an In-Service Traumatic Event(s)).
Not every claim is a first-time service-connection claim. If a condition VA has already service-connected has gotten worse, you file an increased claim and submit current evidence showing the worsening. If a service-connected condition has caused a new problem, you file a secondary service-connected claim and submit medical or lay evidence tying the new condition to the established one. If a service-connected disability keeps you from holding substantially gainful employment, VA Form 21-8940 (completed by you) and VA Form 21-4192 (a request for employment information, sent to your last employer) support a claim for individual unemployability.
Some conditions are presumptive, meaning VA presumes the link to service rather than making you prove it. That is a real advantage, but it is not automatic approval: you still need a current diagnosis, and you still have to meet the specific service requirements attached to that presumption — which can include where you served, when you served, and in some cases how soon the condition appeared or how severe it is. The PACT Act added more than 20 presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures, including a range of cancers and respiratory illnesses. It also added two Agent Orange presumptive conditions — high blood pressure (hypertension) and MGUS, or monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance — for veterans with qualifying Agent Orange exposure, which is not limited to service in Vietnam. If your condition is on a presumptive list, say so in the claim, and ask an accredited representative to confirm you meet that presumption's service requirements.
How to file: standard claim or fully developed claim
The application itself is VA Form 21-526EZ (Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits). VA lists five ways to file: online at VA.gov; by mail to Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444; in person at a VA regional office; by fax; or with the help of an accredited representative. Online is generally fastest and gives you a confirmation.
There are two tracks. A standard claim means you file and VA helps gather the rest of the evidence. You have up to a year from the date VA receives your claim to turn in any evidence, and VA may schedule exams if the file is thin. A fully developed claim (FDC) means you submit everything you have — or can easily get — at the same time as the application. VA describes the FDC program as a way to get a faster decision.
The FDC program has a trade-off worth understanding before you choose it. If you turn in more information or evidence after you submit a fully developed claim, VA removes it from the FDC program and processes it as a standard claim. The same conversion happens if VA has to go get additional non-federal records. VA is explicit that this is not a penalty — filing an FDC will not affect the attention your claim receives or the benefits you are entitled to. But it does erase the speed advantage, so do not file as fully developed if you are still waiting on a private treatment record.
Either way, VA will still request federal records on your behalf: your military service records with your permission, and relevant Social Security information and medical records you identify and authorize VA to obtain from a federal facility such as a VA medical center. VA can also order an exam or a medical opinion under either track. Submitting copies you already have — your DD214, the discharge document that summarizes your service, for example — saves time regardless of which track you pick.
The C&P exam and what happens after you file
After you file, VA moves the claim through a named sequence: claim received, initial review, evidence gathering, evidence review, rating, preparing decision letter, final review, and claim decided. You can follow it with the claim status tool on VA.gov. Movement backward is normal — VA states that if it needs more evidence, or you submit more evidence, the claim returns to the evidence gathering step.
VA may schedule a claim exam, commonly called a C&P exam (compensation and pension exam). Not every claim gets one. If you have enough medical evidence in your file to support your claim, VA follows the Acceptable Clinical Evidence (ACE) process and reviews records instead. The exam is not a treatment appointment — the examiner is documenting severity for rating purposes, not prescribing care. It may be performed by a VA provider or by a contracted provider.
Attending the exam matters. VA states that missing your exam will delay your claim, and that VA may decide the claim based on the existing evidence, which could affect your benefits. If you have good cause — VA gives examples including a death in your immediate family, homelessness, hospitalization, or terminal illness — VA will reschedule. To reschedule normally, notify VA at least 48 hours in advance. With a contracted examiner you may reschedule only once, and the new appointment must fall within 5 days of the original appointment. Contractors try to schedule within 50 miles of your home, or within 100 miles for specialty providers such as dental, eye, hearing, and mental health.
On travel pay for a contracted exam, VA's guidance is that if you do not get a travel payment from the contractor within 14 days after your appointment, you should call the contractor. That is a prompt to follow up on payment, not a deadline you have to beat — confirm the current travel reimbursement filing rules with VA or the contractor before your appointment.
Processing times vary a lot by claim. As of June 2026, VA reported an average of 71.3 days to complete disability-related claims. Volume is still very large: as of July 20, 2026, 600,639 claims were pending and 69,840 were in the backlog, which VA defines as rating-related claims pending more than 125 days since receipt. Once decided, the decision letter is available online, and VA says a mailed copy should arrive within 10 business days, though it may take longer.
If you are denied: three decision review options
A denial is not the end. There are three separate review paths, and picking the right one depends on why you were denied. A supplemental claim is for when you have new and relevant evidence — new meaning information VA has not considered before, relevant meaning information that proves or disproves something in your claim. You file VA Form 20-0995. VA's goal for a supplemental claim not related to health care benefits is 125 days, and as of June 2026 supplemental claims were averaging 58.5 days. VA does not publish a deadline for filing a supplemental claim, but the timing rule in the last paragraph of this section still matters for your money.
A higher-level review asks a more senior reviewer to look at the same record for an error in how the law or facts were applied. You cannot submit new evidence. You file VA Form 20-0996 within 1 year of VA's decision on your initial claim or supplemental claim. You may request 1 informal conference per higher-level review — a phone call with the reviewer to point out the error — and requesting it can extend processing time. VA's goal is an average of 125 days. A higher-level review is not available for contested claims, or for an issue where a higher-level review or Board appeal has already been decided.
A Board appeal sends the case to a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans' Appeals on VA Form 10182, filed within 1 year of the decision on your initial claim, supplemental claim, or higher-level review — 60 days from the date on the decision letter for contested claims. There are three Board lanes with very different waits. Direct review, with no new evidence and no hearing, has a goal of 365 days. Evidence submission, where new evidence must be submitted with the appeal or within 90 days of the date VA receives your request, has a goal of 550 days. A hearing before a judge, where evidence may be submitted at the hearing or within 90 days after it, has a goal of 730 days.
Timing matters for money, not just patience. Under 38 U.S.C. 5110(a)(2), a claim is treated as continuously pursued — preserving the original date of application for effective-date purposes — when you file the next qualifying step within one year of the decision. Let that year lapse and a later supplemental claim can still be granted, but the effective date generally moves forward to the date VA received the new filing. That difference can be worth years of back pay, which is why the decision about which lane to use is worth one free appointment with an accredited representative.
Free help is real. Paid "claim sharks" are a known problem
It is free to file a VA claim, and it is free to get help doing it. VA states plainly that the services an accredited VSO representative provides on your VA benefit claims are always free. You appoint a VSO with VA Form 21-22 (Appointment of Veterans Service Organization as Claimant's Representative). Many county and state veterans service officers hold accreditation through a VA-recognized organization, and their assistance is likewise free — for most veterans this is the single most practical starting point, because they know the local VA regional office and the local providers. Anyone offering to help can be checked against VA's Office of General Counsel accreditation search before you hand over documents or personal information.
Accredited attorneys and claims agents are legitimate and often valuable, but they operate under strict fee rules. Under 38 U.S.C. 5904(c)(1), a fee may not be charged, allowed, or paid for the services of agents and attorneys provided before the date the claimant is given notice of the initial decision by the agency of original jurisdiction — that is, the VA office that made the first decision on the claim. (The bar does not apply to fees for services in proceedings before a court.) VA describes the practical test as three conditions, all of which must be met: VA has decided your initial claim, VA has received a fee agreement signed by both of you, and VA has received VA Form 21-22a appointing that accredited attorney or claims agent.
Two figures from VA's fee regulation are worth knowing, and they are different things. Under 38 CFR 14.636(f), fees exceeding 33 1/3 percent of any past-due benefits awarded — the lump sum of back pay covering the period between your effective date and the decision — are presumed to be unreasonable. Separately, under 38 CFR 14.636(h)(1), one of the conditions for VA to pay a representative directly out of your past-due benefits is that the total fee, excluding expenses, does not exceed 20 percent of that amount. The 20 percent figure is a condition for direct payment by VA, not a legal ceiling on what may be charged.
Against that backdrop sits an industry of unaccredited companies — commonly called claim sharks — that advertise heavily, charge veterans thousands of dollars, and sometimes take a cut of monthly benefits for years. VA's position on accreditation is direct: if someone is not recognized by VA, they cannot legally help you with a VA benefit claim. Treat these as warning signs: unsolicited calls, texts, or mailers about your rating; a guarantee of a specific outcome such as a 100 percent rating; a promise to expedite your decision; a request for a percentage of your monthly benefits; and any fee charged to prepare and file an initial claim.
This area is actively changing, so check current status before relying on it. Enforcement has been weak in part because the fee-related criminal provisions were struck from 38 U.S.C. 5905 by the 2006 amendments, leaving only the wrongful withholding of a benefit as criminal conduct under that section. In early June 2026, members of Congress introduced the SAFEGUARD Veterans Act (S.4646 and H.R.9105 in the 119th Congress) to make explicit that only VA-accredited individuals may assist with claims and to reinstate criminal penalties — but that is a bill, not law, and it may or may not pass. Several states have moved separately. To report suspected fraud, use the VSAFE fraud hotline at 833-38V-SAFE (833-388-7233) or vsafe.gov.
Special situations: leaving the military, and claims filed years later
If you are still on active duty, the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program lets you file before you separate so a decision can follow shortly after. BDD requires a known separation date with 180 to 90 days left on active duty, that you are available to attend VA exams within 45 days of the date you submit the claim, and that you finish all phases of the VA and Department of Defense medical separation examination process before your release. VA also notes that if you add a condition when you have fewer than 90 days left on active duty, it may not process that condition until after discharge.
BDD is not open to everyone in that window. VA excludes claims that need special handling — for example if you need case management for a serious injury or illness, if you are terminally ill, if you are receiving treatment at a VA or military hospital during the discharge waiting period, if a character-of-discharge determination is pending, or if you cannot attend a VA exam within 45 days after submitting the claim. If any of those describe you, an accredited representative can tell you which route to use instead.
With fewer than 90 days remaining, BDD is closed to you — but VA states you can still file before you are discharged, and the claim will be processed after separation as a fully developed or standard claim. Combined with the one-year post-separation effective date rule, filing early or filing an intent to file immediately is almost always the right move for someone transitioning out.
At the other end, VA states there is no time limit on filing a postservice claim. Veterans file successfully decades after service. Waiting can make a claim harder in practice, mainly because records get harder to find and witnesses harder to reach, so if your service was long ago, spend the effort on service treatment records, unit records, and statements from people who served with you.
Toxic exposure deserves its own mention because eligibility keeps expanding. Along with the presumptive conditions above, the PACT Act provides that every veteran enrolled in VA health care receives an initial toxic exposure screening and a follow-up screening at least once every 5 years. VA says there is no deadline — veterans and survivors can file for PACT Act benefits anytime. And if VA denied your disability claim in the past and now considers your condition presumptive, VA's guidance is to submit a supplemental claim so it can review your case again. That is exactly the kind of question an accredited representative can answer in one free appointment.
Sources
Every figure above is drawn from these official sources. Benefit rates and thresholds change — check the current official page before you act.
- VA — How to file a VA disability claim
- VA — Your intent to file a VA claim
- VA — Types of disability claims and when to file
- VA — Pre-discharge claim (Benefits Delivery at Discharge)
- VA — Evidence needed for your disability claim
- VA — Fully Developed Claims program
- VA — VA claim exam (C&P exam)
- VA — The VA claim process after you file your claim
- VA — Decision reviews and appeals
- VA — Supplemental Claims
- VA — Higher-Level Reviews
- VA — Board Appeals
- VA — Get help from a VA accredited representative or VSO
- VA — Find a VA accredited representative or VSO
- VA — VA accredited representative FAQs
- VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation
- VA Office of General Counsel — Accreditation and Recognition Search
- VBA — Detailed Claims Data
- VA — The PACT Act and your VA benefits
- U.S. Code — 38 U.S.C. 5110 (effective dates)
- U.S. Code — 38 U.S.C. 5904 (recognition of agents and attorneys; fees)
- U.S. Code — 38 U.S.C. 5905 (penalty for certain acts)
- GPO — 38 CFR 14.636 (payment of fees for representation)
- VSAFE — fraud reporting for veterans and service members
- Congress.gov — S.4646, SAFEGUARD Veterans Act of 2026
- Congress.gov — H.R.9105, SAFEGUARD Veterans Act of 2026