Case Results

The decision in your hand isn’t the last word.

Most of the veterans on this page came to us after a denial, a lowball rating, or years of back pay VA quietly skipped. Some had already given up once. None of them had a case VA thought was worth paying.

Here’s what happened when someone finally believed them and knew how to take the fight to VA. The back pay is the number VA writes on the check. The lifetime figure is what the new rating is worth over the years still ahead.

VA says it isn’t service connected

This is the denial that sends the most veterans home for good. The letter says your condition isn’t related to service, or the evidence isn’t there, and it reads like a verdict. It isn’t. It usually means nobody connected the dots for the rater.

We go back to the service records, get the medical opinion VA didn’t, and put the whole picture in front of the decision maker, at the Regional Office, the Board, or the Court if that’s what it takes.

  • $79,760.07 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 46 · 60% to 90%
    PTSD connected with benefits back to August 2020; 60% to 90%
    Service connection for PTSD at 70% with an effective date in August 2020, plus a migraine increase; combined rating rose from 60% to 90%.
    Estimated lifetime value $451,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $77,147.45 Recorded award
    Air Force veteran, age 34 · 80% to 100%
    Multiple conditions connected across two decisions, reaching 100%
    Multiple service-connected conditions across two decisions; combined rating reached 100%.
    Estimated lifetime value $1.04 million Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $60,402.78 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 41 · Not service connected to 80%
    PTSD, back, knee, and radiculopathy connected; 80% combined
    Service connection for multiple conditions, including PTSD, back and knee disabilities, and radiculopathy; 80% combined rating.
    Estimated lifetime value $1.01 million Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $31,285.69 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 30 · 90% to 100%
    Sleep apnea connected: 90% to 100%
    Service connection for sleep apnea; combined rating increased from 90% to 100%.
    Estimated lifetime value $930,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy

Holding a denial like this? Send us the decision letter and we’ll tell you what we see.

You’re rated, but too low

You got something, so it feels ungrateful to push. But VA’s math is built on the exam it ordered, and a twenty-minute C&P appointment doesn’t capture a bad back on a bad day, or what your knees do to the rest of your body.

A rating increase isn’t an argument about fairness. It’s an argument about criteria, and it’s won with the right evidence lined up against the right diagnostic code.

  • $98,448.18 Recorded award
    Marine Corps veteran, age 38 · 40% to 60%
    Shoulder and both knees: 40% to 60%
    Shoulder and bilateral knee disabilities; combined rating increased from 40% to 60%.
    Estimated lifetime value $408,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $63,966.71 Recorded award
    Air Force veteran, age 42 · 20% to 90%
    Degenerative disc disease and radiculopathy in both legs, reaching 90%
    Awards including degenerative disc disease and bilateral leg radiculopathy; combined rating rose from 20% to 90%.
    Estimated lifetime value $1.05 million Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $54,553.60 Recorded award
    Marine Corps veteran, age 34 · 90% to 100%
    Orthopedic and neurological conditions: 90% to 100%
    Multiple orthopedic and neurological disabilities; combined rating increased from 90% to 100%.
    Estimated lifetime value $885,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $32,639.29 Recorded award
    Marine Corps veteran, age 31 · 80% to 100%
    Both shoulders and both knees: 80% to 100%
    Bilateral shoulder and knee disability awards; combined rating increased from 80% to 100%.
    Estimated lifetime value $1.06 million Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy

Think your rating undersells it? Run the numbers, then talk to us.

You can’t hold a job

Your rating says 70%. Your life says you haven’t worked a full year since you got out. Those two facts don’t have to stay in conflict. Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate when your service-connected conditions keep you from substantially gainful work.

VA rarely offers TDIU on its own. It has to be claimed, and then proved, with work history, medical evidence, and often a vocational opinion.

  • $53,622.08 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 54 · 70% to TDIU (100% rate)
    TDIU, PTSD and migraine increases, and an earlier date on a shoulder
    Multiple disability awards, PTSD and migraine increases, TDIU, and an earlier effective date for a shoulder disability.
    Estimated lifetime value $818,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $41,080.44 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 67 · 70% to TDIU (100% rate)
    Depression rating increased, then TDIU at the 100% rate
    Increased major depressive disorder rating followed by TDIU, providing compensation at the 100% rate.
    Estimated lifetime value $468,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy

If your conditions ended your working life, let’s talk about TDIU.

They owe you for the years they skipped

A grant can still shortchange you. If VA picks the wrong effective date, every month between the day you were entitled and the day they finally paid is money you’re owed and won’t see unless someone argues for it.

Effective date cases are won on procedure: what was filed, when, and what VA did or didn’t do with it. It’s detail work, and it’s where a lot of back pay lives.

  • $47,292.15 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 31 · 10% to 50%
    PTSD and back connected, with benefits effective August 2022
    PTSD and back-condition awards, including benefits effective August 2022; combined rating rose from 10% to 50%.
    Estimated lifetime value $580,000 Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy
  • $30,950.42 Recorded award
    Army veteran, age 54 · 70%, effective date moved to August 2023
    Effective date moved back to August 2023 at 70%
    Earlier effective date reaching back to August 2023, with the existing 70% rating maintained.

Got a grant with a date that feels late? We’ll check the timeline.

You’re at 100% and still owed more

Plenty of veterans stop at 100% because they think it’s the ceiling. It isn’t. Special Monthly Compensation exists for veterans whose disabilities go beyond what the rating schedule measures, and the difference between 100% and SMC can be hundreds of dollars a month, for life.

VA almost never raises it unprompted. We do.

  • $186,001.95 Recorded award
    Marine Corps veteran, age 65 · 0% to 100% P&T with SMC-M
    100% permanent and total, plus SMC-M and dependent benefits
    100% permanent and total disability, additional dependent benefits, and increased special monthly compensation to SMC-M.
    Estimated lifetime value $1.36 million Award plus the monthly increase over remaining life expectancy

Already at 100%? Ask us whether SMC applies.

How a case ends up on this page

None of these veterans walked in with a case VA wanted to pay. They walked in with a story VA hadn’t believed. Three things happened next.

  1. We believed you

    You’ve spent years trying to prove something you already know is true. We don’t ask you to prove it to us. We ask what happened, and then we go get the evidence that makes VA accept it.

  2. We know how VA fights, and where it fails

    We’ve stood on your side of this system, and we’ve spent years on the other side of the table from it. We know the manual the rater follows, the shortcuts the exams take, and the standards VA applies wrong. That’s where these cases were won.

  3. We don’t back down

    Regional Office, Board of Veterans’ Appeals, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. We’re accredited at every level, and the case stays with the attorney who knows it, no matter how far VA makes us take it.

Recorded awards are total amounts before attorney fees and applicable costs, and combine all awards recorded for each veteran, including smaller awards within the same matter. Ages are as of September 2026. Every case turns on its own facts, evidence, and procedural history. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Estimated lifetime value is a projection, not an award. It adds the recorded award to the increase in monthly compensation between the veteran’s prior and current rating, at 2026 VA rates for a veteran with no dependents, multiplied by remaining life expectancy from the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table. It assumes the rating holds, no future cost-of-living increases, and no added dependent benefits. Actual lifetime benefits will differ.

Your decision letter is the starting point, not the ending.

Send it over. An attorney reads it and tells you straight what we see and whether we can help. No fee for the review.

Get a free case review