Decode VA-speak

29 terms

38 CFRCode of Federal Regulations · the CFR

Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations — the federal rules governing veterans' benefits, including how conditions are service-connected (Part 3) and rated (Part 4).

Aggravation

When service made a pre-existing condition permanently worse than its natural progression. The VA can compensate the amount of worsening service caused.

Benefit of the doubt38 U.S.C. 5107(b) · reasonable doubt

The rule that when the evidence for and against your claim is roughly equal, the VA must decide in your favor. Your job is to get the evidence to that even line.

Buddy statementlay statement · witness statement · VA Form 21-10210

A written statement from someone who witnessed your condition or an in-service event — a battle buddy, spouse, or coworker. It corroborates what your records don't show.

C-Fileclaims file · claim file

Your complete VA claims file — every document the VA has about your claims. Requesting it lets you see exactly what the VA is working from.

C&P examcompensation and pension exam · comp and pen

A Compensation & Pension exam — the VA sends you to a provider who documents your condition and how severe it is. It heavily influences your rating, so how you describe your worst days matters.

Character of dischargecharacter of service

The VA's determination of whether your discharge status lets you receive benefits. Honorable and general discharges qualify; for others, the VA reviews the circumstances and exceptions may apply.

Combined rating

Your single overall rating when you have multiple conditions. The VA doesn't add them — it combines them with a specific formula, so 50% and 30% isn't 80%.

Continuity of symptomatology

Evidence that your symptoms have continued from service to now. It can help connect a condition to service when the records have gaps.

DBQDisability Benefits Questionnaire

A Disability Benefits Questionnaire — a standardized form a provider fills out mapping your symptoms to the VA's rating criteria for a specific condition.

Decision letterrating decision · rating letter

The VA's written decision on your claim — what it granted or denied, the percentage assigned, and the reasons. If denied, the reasons tell you exactly what to strengthen.

Diagnostic CodeDC

The number the VA assigns each ratable condition in the rating schedule (e.g. 6847 for sleep apnea). It points to the exact criteria used to rate that condition.

Effective date

The date your benefits are calculated from — usually the day you filed (or your Intent to File date). Back pay is figured from it, so filing sooner can mean more.

Fully Developed ClaimFDC

A claim where you submit all your evidence up front instead of asking the VA to gather it. It can move faster through the system.

Higher-Level ReviewHLR

A review of your decided claim by a more senior reviewer, based on the same evidence — used when you believe the VA made an error, not when you have new evidence.

Intent to FileITF · VA Form 21-0966

A quick form that locks in your effective date for up to a year while you gather evidence. Filing one the day you decide to claim protects your back pay.

Lay evidence

Evidence from non-experts — your own statements and buddy statements about what you and others personally observed. The VA must consider it when it's competent and credible.

M21-1

The VA's internal adjudication manual — the step-by-step procedures raters follow to decide claims. Knowing what it requires helps a claim speak the rater's language.

Nexusnexus letter · medical nexus

The medical link between your condition and your service. A nexus letter is a signed opinion from a licensed provider stating that link — often the single most important piece of a claim.

PACT Act

A 2022 law that greatly expanded presumptive conditions tied to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures — connecting many conditions to service automatically.

Personal statementstatement in support of claim · VA Form 21-4138

Your own account of your symptoms and how they affect your life — how often, how bad, and the impact on work, home, and daily activities. Your credible words are evidence.

Presumptive conditionpresumptive

A condition the VA connects to service automatically for veterans who served in a qualifying time and place (many under the PACT Act). No nexus letter needed — the connection is presumed by law.

Secondary service connectionsecondary claim · secondary condition

A condition caused or worsened by another condition that's already service-connected — for example, sleep apnea secondary to PTSD. You claim the link between the two, not a separate in-service event.

Service connection

The link between your condition and your military service. Establishing it — directly, or through another service-connected condition — is what a disability claim is really about.

Service Treatment RecordsSTRs · STR

Your medical records from your time in service. They help show a condition began or was treated during service.

SMCSpecial Monthly Compensation

Special Monthly Compensation — additional payment on top of your regular compensation for certain severe conditions or combinations (like loss of use of a limb, or needing aid and attendance).

Supplemental Claim

A way to re-open a decided claim by adding new and relevant evidence the VA hasn't seen. One of the review options after a decision.

TDIUIndividual Unemployability · IU

Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability — pays at the 100% rate when service-connected conditions keep you from holding steady work, even without a 100% schedular rating.

VASRDrating schedule · 38 CFR Part 4

The VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (38 CFR Part 4) — the rulebook of criteria the VA uses to assign a percentage to each condition.