Straight answers, no runaround

VA Claim Commander is a self-service tool that helps veterans build the documentation for a VA disability claim. You tell us about a condition, and we turn what you provide into clean, file-ready documents — personal statements, buddy/lay statements, a medical nexus letter draft, DBQ preparation, and a cover letter — mapped to the rating criteria the VA actually evaluates against. You stay in command of your claim; we do the heavy lifting of turning your facts into documents that read the way the VA expects.

Any U.S. veteran preparing, refiling, or appealing a VA disability claim. Family members and friends can also help by writing a buddy/lay statement about what they witnessed. VSOs, accredited agents, and clinics can manage clients at scale through our advocate product.

No. We are an independent tool and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. We help you prepare your own documentation to submit to the VA yourself.

Go to the Start page, name one condition, and you'll have a real draft in minutes. You don't need to upload any records to begin. Drafting and downloading your core documents is free for veterans — there's no paywall in front of your work.

No. The tools are the product. There are no $1,000 flat fees, no cut of your back pay, no consultation to buy, and no pressure. Predatory 'claim shark' pricing is exactly what we were built to be the opposite of.

A personal statement (your own account of how a condition affects you), buddy/lay statements (from people who witnessed it), a medical nexus letter draft (the opinion linking a condition to service), DBQ preparation, and a cover letter — all assembled into a ready-to-file package in the order a rater reads it.

Yes. Your personal statement is rendered onto the actual VA Form 21-4138, and a buddy/lay statement onto the actual VA Form 21-10210, filled with your information and ready to sign. Many veterans want that official feel — and you get it. (Good to know: you are not required to use the VA's exact forms. A plain Word or PDF document that gives the same information and states it stands in for the form is equally valid. We put it on the official form anyway, because it removes the worry.)

This is the part that matters most. The VA weighs a nexus opinion that a licensed clinician has reviewed and signed far more heavily than an unsigned draft — an unsigned letter is easy for a rater to set aside. Through Commander Health, a licensed clinician reviews the draft, edits it if needed, and signs it if they agree with it. We prepare a faithful, well-supported draft; we never impersonate a provider or put words in their mouth. The medical opinion is theirs.

It's a statement from someone who knows you — a fellow service member, spouse, coworker, or friend — describing what they personally saw about your condition or the event behind it. We help them write it in their own voice and put it on VA Form 21-10210. It carries their phone number and email so the VA can verify them, which keeps the statement from being tossed, and they sign it themselves.

Yes. Each condition becomes its own claim you can build, track, and strengthen independently, and the tool can surface related secondary conditions worth considering.

Yes. When a draft references medical literature, those citations are checked against databases of real, verifiable sources (such as PubMed IDs and DOIs) alongside government reports and clinical guidelines. A single fabricated or mismatched citation can get an entire medical opinion discounted, so we don't ship them.

Never. The intake draws out your real experience and maps it to the rating criteria — it does not invent symptoms, inflate severity, or coach you toward a rating. Strong documents come from true facts. Any gap is flagged for you, not papered over.

Look for the same signs you'd want from any claims help: transparent pricing with no hidden fees, a clear explanation of what the tool does and doesn't do, documents grounded in your own records rather than fill-in-the-blank templates, and a straight recommendation to use a free VSO for personal strategy. VA Claim Commander was built by a veteran rated 100% Permanent & Total who is pursuing VA accreditation. The biggest red flag anywhere: a service that guarantees approval or promises a specific rating. No honest tool or person can do that.

No. No tool, lawyer, doctor, or VSO can guarantee a VA decision. Our promise is the quality of the documentation — that it's accurate, grounded in your facts, and mapped to the criteria the VA uses — not the outcome.

No. VA Claim Commander is self-service software. It does not file, submit, present, or prosecute claims on your behalf, and it does not provide legal or medical advice. For personalized claim strategy, we recommend working with a free, VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO).

Be cautious of anyone who charges a large upfront fee, takes a percentage of your retroactive benefits, guarantees results, or pressures you to sign fast. Legitimate help is transparent about cost and honest about what it can't promise. You earned these benefits — you shouldn't have to hand over a chunk of them to collect.

Yes, and how it's handled depends on your tier. On the free tier your records are processed in your browser to build your documents and then discarded — we keep no database of your records on our servers after your session. On a paid plan, your case is saved to your account so your work follows you across devices, stored encrypted under a signed HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.

Only you. We don't sell your information and we don't share it with third parties to market to you. For a provider-signed nexus letter, the licensed clinician you're matched with through Commander Health sees the clinical summary needed to review and sign — and only that.

No — we do not train AI models on your personal data. With your explicit permission, de-identified (non-identifying) information may be used to improve the tool's quality; that is never your identifiable records, and your information is never sold.

Yes — you're always in control. On any tier, 'Start Over' permanently erases your case. On a paid plan, that's how you turn saving off: delete the saved case, or email support to delete your account and permanently purge all associated data.

No — you can build a great deal without uploading anything. If you do upload records, they're read in your browser to improve the quality of what we draft and are not stored on our servers. Uploading a C-file or decision letter simply gives the tool a fuller picture to work from.

Veterans can draft and download their core claim documents for free — there's no paywall in front of your work. Paid plans add conveniences like saving your case to your account across devices and higher-volume features. There are no consultations to buy and no hidden fees. See the pricing page for current plans.

Yes. VA Claim Commander gives veterans free, self-service tools to draft personal statements, buddy statements, and more, and to organize a claim — at no cost. Paid plans exist for people who want their case saved and synced or need higher-volume features.

Yes — Commander for Advocates lets organizations manage many veterans' claims with their own branding and per-seat access. It's a real advocate product, not an afterthought.

Claims that lean hardest on a medical link tend to draw the most scrutiny: mental-health claims without documented stressors, conditions that appeared years after service, and secondary conditions that flow from an already service-connected one. The common thread is that they live or die on documentation — a clear nexus opinion, buddy statements, and a detailed personal statement. That's exactly the evidence this tool helps you build.

Don't minimize — avoid 'I'm fine' or 'it's not that bad' when your worst days are worse than that. Don't exaggerate either; be honest and specific. Don't say your condition doesn't affect your work or home life if it does, and don't compare yourself to other veterans. Describe your worst days, not your best ones. Documenting your symptoms clearly beforehand makes it far easier to communicate the true impact.

Yes. You can use the tools to read your decision letter, spot what the VA said was missing, and build the stronger evidence a supplemental claim or appeal needs.

No. A plainly labeled Word or PDF document that provides the same information and states it stands in for a given VA form is valid. We render your statements onto the genuine forms anyway, because for a lot of veterans the official form removes the worry that a plain document might 'mess up' the claim.

It depends on your situation, but many veterans complete a solid first draft in well under an hour using the guided flow.

Scout, the in-app guide, can walk you through any screen, and you can email support@vaclaimcommander.com anytime. For personalized help with your specific claim strategy, we recommend a free, VA-accredited VSO.

If you're a veteran in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1, or text 838255. It's free, confidential, and available 24/7. You are not alone.