Win Your VA Claim Appeal With New Evidence

If you lost your veterans disability claim at the Regional Office level, there is a good chance you were missing a key piece of evidence that was necessary for VA to grant your claim. After you have gone through the Notice of Disagreement process at the Regional Office, you then can file a Form 9 substantive appeal to take your appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA).

What I see far too often are veterans not taking advantage of the opportunity they have at that point to submit additional new evidence that will strengthen their claim.  If you know the law and use it to your advantage, you can make it more likely that you will win your VA claim appeal for disability compensation at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

evidence for VA claim appeal
Missing evidence can be key.

Use the VA’s Process to Your Advantage

I am not sure why more veterans don’t take advantage of this opportunity to add helpful evidence.  I think it is because many veterans don’t realize that VA’s processes are different in many ways than other court systems are with regard to new evidence on appeals.

In most types of legal actions, if you lose your case and appeal you cannot submit new evidence during the course of that appeal. The appeals court is only reviewing the case to see if the lower court judge got it right based on the evidence presented.  Even if you have a new witness or find out the other side was lying, you cannot bring that up on appeal because “the record is closed.”  That is another way of saying that the time for evidence has ended.

The good news is that the VA claim appeal process works totally differently.  When you appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, you can, and probably should, gather and submit new evidence that supports your claim.

Use New Evidence

The important thing to keep in mind here is that VA has some very powerful rules that can be used to your advantage in the appeals process. You need to recognize these and take advantage when possible.

Too many veterans get caught in the trap of thinking that the VA denied their claim simply because they do not like them or that they are overworked. While those things may be true, it is your job, or that of you and your representative/attorney:

  • to understand what evidence is needed,
  • to recognize you have the opportunity to submit that evidence,
  • and to provide it in time so that it can be considered with your appeal.

Hopefully, that will result in a grant of your claim. Even if the BVA does not grant the claim outright, they may at least remand it to the Regional Office for further development of one or more issues now that there is at least a way the claim may eventually be granted.

Get Help with Identifying Critical Evidence for Your VA Claim Appeal

If your claim is headed to the BVA at this point, it might be a good idea to consult with an attorney who is experienced in VA appeals to help you through that process. That attorney can help you determine what evidence was missing when the claim was denied.  The attorney can also help to gather that evidence, whether it is in the form of a medical opinion, a buddy statement, medical records, or service records.

We had a BVA hearing recently where we were able to do just that.  Our client had been denied service connection for PTSD because he had no evidence of a PTSD diagnosis.  We were able to get a medical opinion diagnosing him with PTSD and relating it to his military service.  Without this new evidence on appeal, his PTSD claim would likely have been denied.

There are strict deadlines on submitting new evidence in a VA claim appeal, but these rules can be used to your advantage if known and acted upon. If you would like to consult with one of our VA accredited attorneys, you can reach out to us on this website or give us a call for a free consultation. We will be glad to see what we can do to help you with your claim.

Travis Studdard is an attorney who focuses on representing veterans in VA disability compensation claims.  He regularly writes about issues that are important to veterans and their families.

You can subscribe to his Veterans Disability channel on YouTube.

Couldn’t be happier with the service they provided me. After so much time spent working with the VA to grant me disability for my service connected disabilities I was denied. Exhausted with the process and ready to give up a friend recommended this firm to assist me with an appeal. They handled all of it, keeping me updated regularly on progress, and eventually getting me the disability rating that was due. This was the happiest I’ve been to pay an invoice for services received.Kendall Lucy
100 % recomendable, in my humble opinion they are the best. I am very grateful with their assistance in filling my claim with the VA and winning They have done an outstanding job. They are professional ThanksFrancisco Javier Pérez A
They assessed my case as being potentially tdiu qualified and got to work right away. I only provided the information they asked me for and let them do their work. I didn’t hound them, I didn’t pester them, I just let them do their work and provided what they asked for and trusted the process. Within a few months or so I was awarded a tdiu rating. In my case I’m a combat vet of oef, but the Va had denied me twice for a benefit that I know I qualified for. The Perkins-studdard firm got the the benefit I deserved and I am eternally grateful for their expertise and hard work.M C
Jason provided provided outstanding counsel and support. His communication was exemplary, with prompt and informative responses to all my inquiries. The entire team was professional, knowledgeable, and genuinely caring, transforming a potentially stressful experience into a positive one. I cannot recommend their services highly enough. Thanks Jason!Cody
I saw Travis on some YouTube videos. It was the way he worded things, I just felt compelled to contact them about my situation, he seemed trustworthy. Travis told me he thought he could help me. I was hesitant, but proceeded. The claim process was long, but my claim was granted. They are organized and punctual. Jessica and Travis are a strong team. I feel the Lord led me to Perkins & Studdard. I consider Travis an advocate and friend. ThanksCorby Reese
It has been a pleasure working with Jason and firm, very knowledgeable and professional, He did awesome job to get settlement that I need for my workmen comp case which was fair in my case, cause the insurance company was trying low ball me and not give me nothing but Jason fix that ….I truly recommend Perkins&studdard any workmen comp case that you have and also want thank Tina also for helping me along this process Thank you Perkins&studdardjahbari swint
Thank you Jason and Tina for everything you've done. Much appreciated. Great law firm! Great results!! Thank you!!! (Austin and Valerie)Valerie Mellinger
Travis and the team working on my VA claim are awesome. I’m happy with their integrity and diligence on working on my claim.Chris “Greybeard” Mullennix
I can't express enough how great it was to work with Perkins Studdard. They are extremely knowledgeable, professional and keep you aware of everything happening with your case. Very friendly from the front office to Mr. Perkins. I would HIGHLY recommend Perkins Studdard!James Strickland
I recommend Travis for an Veteran that has been dealing with constant denial with claims. He also , cover cost for my nexus letter when I ran into financial troubles , that helped me win my case.edwin Cook

Related Posts

Contrast:

Font Size: