Did you wait till you were out to get your disability rating? If so, how long before you made your first claim?

The best time to file a VA compensation claim is while you are still on active duty. The VA has a pre-discharge program that allows separating service members to file compensation claims up to six months before separation date.

As a former VA rarer, I say the best time to file your VA compensation claim is while you are still on active duty. 6 months before separation date.

This is an area where my opinion is not popular with many people. If you retired from the military you were able to do all of the things you needed to right up until the end. Then you continue to get military benefits. Also if you are medically retired you are being taken care of by the military for what caused you to be separated. In both these cases, I don't believe you should be entitled to VA disability. If after you got out you find out you have a disability caused by your time in the military then a VA disability is for you.

Weight to file the claim until you are out of the military and at least a full month after you get out. I suggest filling out a form called an intent to file on the first of the following month after you ETS/ retire. If you file while you are still in the military, you will pay back money.

I was honorably discharged 40 years ago. We got ZERO counseling about VA benefits. I knew I had the Vietnam-era GI Bill and was eligible for a VA home loan, but I knew nothing else. Over those years I'd paid thousands for surgery on service-connected knee injuries. Was finally advised by a friend to go to the VA and was rated 30%. (For some reason they acknowledge the hearing loss and provide hearing aids but rate it at 0% disability. WTF is up with that?) Also tried to get coverage for a tooth I lost in boot camp, but they refuse to cover that because they said the bridgework they provided was cosmetic (you don't technically need a front tooth to eat) so zero coverage.

Waited until I was out 25 years.

When I went through TAPS, the VA rep gave us very specific instructions about what to include in the package and EXACTLY how the package and even the envelope should look. He also told us where to hand deliver the package to the VA office and where to place it on his desk. Get the picture??
I followed his instructions and received my notification of 30% disability in a bout six weeks and first cheque shortly there after.
There is no reason to delay your rating and money.

I started after I got out about 8 years later and I should have done it in 2008 when I did get out and yes and am 75 percent

Vietnam Vet. Applied and awarded SC/0% upon discharge. As time went by health continued to deteriorate. DAV advisor told me never keep applying for increase. Today 100% T&P.

I made my first claim as I was being discharged however due to va “error” it was dismissed. At that time a vso lied to me and told me I’d never be able to claim again. I was 20 and naive af. In 2016 after untold medical debt for sc issues I found out I could have gone to the VA all along and avoided bankruptcy. I’m 100% p&t now. The first claim was in 1996 and I got a failure to appear for a c&p they canceled due to pregnancy. It was to be rescheduled when my daughter was 6 months old instead they marked me as a no show and dismissed.