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As a veteran, you already fought for our country — you don’t deserve another fight over your well-deserved benefits. Unfortunately, it’s common for veterans and their loved ones to find nothing but dead ends when filing appeals with the Veterans Administration. Dealing with health issues is hard enough, but if you’re also facing denied claims, red tape and an unsympathetic VA that doesn’t seem to care about your pain and trauma, you might feel like you’re at the end of your rope.
That’s where a veterans disability attorney comes in. While appealing a denied claim is still a lengthy process, having a VA-certified attorney like J. Robert Surface on your side can help. With years of experience representing veterans from all branches of the military, Mr. Surface has a deep knowledge of the VA’s inner workings. He can help you appeal a VA ruling and ensure you get all the benefits you are owed.
Still not sure whether you need a disability lawyer? Keep reading to learn more.
If you haven’t filed a disability claim yet, you may be wondering whether you qualify for benefits or not. If you are unable to work due to a physical injury or a diagnosed disease, syndrome or mental disorder that resulted from a service-related event, you have a legal right to apply for veterans’ disability benefits.
You may have also heard of the PACT Act, a law which expanded benefit eligibility for veterans exposed to toxic substances or radiation during their service. This act added more “presumptive conditions” that qualify for eligibility; these are veterans’ illnesses that are presumed to have resulted from toxic exposures. If you are suffering from one or more of a variety of specific cancers, respiratory illnesses or other conditions after serving in an area known to contain toxic chemicals or radiation, your condition(s) can be presumed to be related to your time on active duty. The PACT Act also made it a requirement for the VA to provide toxic exposure screenings to all veterans enrolled in VA healthcare.
You may qualify for PACT Act benefits if you have a presumptive condition and served near burn pits during the Gulf War or post-9/11 era; if you served in areas where Agent Orange was used during the Korean or Vietnam Wars; if you were stationed at Camp Lejeune for a period of time between 1953 and 1987 and drank contaminated water there; and if you served in any other areas where you came into close contact with or ingested toxic substances. To learn if you may have come into contact with hazardous materials while on active duty during WWII, the Vietnam or Korean Wars, the Gulf War or during the post-9/11 era, click here for more from the VA.
Some of the reasons that veterans apply for disability include the following:
If you are struggling with these or any other service-related physical or mental health issues, we recommend applying for disability benefits.
Most veterans don’t need to hire a disability attorney until they have had a claim denied. That’s the point at which you can truly benefit from the expertise of a certified attorney. As you may already know, the rules set forth by the VA are complex and change regularly. Your claim may have been denied for reasons you don’t understand, and it can be frustrating to keep up with the mandatory requirements. Mr. Surface makes it a priority to stay informed about current VA rules so that he can effectively aid his clients as they navigate the claims process. Plus, specific steps MUST be followed within one year of a claim being denied, so time is of the essence.
Keep in mind that neither Mr. Surface, nor any other certified attorney, has the power to rush the VA ruling process or tip the scales in a client’s favor. With that said, Mr. Surface is well-versed in veterans disability law and can help you appeal your claim in the most effective way possible.
There are a variety of VA-approved disabilities that would make you eligible for benefits, each of which has a percentage rating. If your disabilities have percentages that add up to 100%, your claims may be eligible for a Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU) ruling. Your claim will be bolstered if you were also found to be disabled by Social Security.
While all of this seems straightforward, there are often ways that veterans can be cheated out of the benefits they deserve. Although veterans must provide valid evidence of disability, the VA requires Compensation and Pension (C&P) examinations as well. While they are meant to validate or invalidate a veteran’s claim, C&P examinations are often performed by medical personnel who aren’t specialized in the area of medicine related to the disability in question. Opinions can be formed based on insufficient evidence, meaning that these examiners can easily miss the correlations between the veteran’s disabilities and their time on active duty.
This leads to many veterans being denied the benefits they are due and hundreds of wasted days as appeals are processed. And this is just one of the headaches that you may experience as you battle to have your claim taken seriously. With hundreds of thousands of veterans’ cases backlogged at the VA, you don’t want to spend years of your life fighting for your benefits alone.
J. Robert Surface is the veteran disability attorney that you want on your side. He’s experienced and ready to help you get the benefits you deserve.
Mr. Surface has three cardinal rules that he encourages veterans to follow:
Don’t wait any longer to get Mr. Surface on your team. He’ll fight with you and will never give up. Get started with a free case review today.
If you have questions or want to take advantage of a free case review, we are available 24/7 at (864) 235-0886. There is no guarantee you will win benefits if you apply. The office of J. Robert Surface, Attorney at Law is located at 513 E Greer St, Honea Path, SC 29654. He proudly serves clients from Greenville, Clemson, and Spartanburg.