Hey, veterans.
Travis Studdard here.
I'm a veteran's disability attorney dedicated to helping veterans get the VA benefits that
they deserve.
Today I want to talk to you about a question that I sometimes get from veterans, which
is, "Do I need your help in pursuing and winning my TDIU claim to get to 100%?"
A lot of veterans I talk to, I tell them that quite frankly, they may not need my help in
their VA claim, or simply that we can't take on their claim at that time.
In a TDIU, or individual unemployability situation, those are claims that you really want to consider
getting an attorney involved, and I want to go over a few of those reasons with you today,
and I may break this up in a couple of different videos.
First, one of the things to think about is why a VA TDIU claims so differently than other
types of claims, and why an attorney may help you.
First, the VA doesn't grant these claims very easily.
Whereas they may grant your underlying disability and give you a rating on that, it's less likely
that they're going to grant you 100% based on your inability to work because of that
disability.
Secondly, these claims can be very complex from a factual standpoint and a legal perspective
as well, which of course, in that situation, an attorney may be of great benefit to you.
First off, I want to talk to you about why these claims are so hard to win, and how an
attorney may make a difference in that claim.
Let's say you have a service connected disability.
You get a rating on that, but VA may not take into account the full effect those disabilities
have on your ability to work.
Because of that, they deny a large portion of the TDIU claims that are made by veterans.
Again, the odds are stacked against you from the get go when you're seeking TDIU benefits.
If we really want to get down to it as far as why the VA might do that, a TDIU rating
is a 100% rating.
There's a big jump in VA benefits when you go from say 70, 80, even 90%, up to 100%.
To give you an example, if you're rated at 70, and then you prove to VA that your service
connected disabilities prevent you from being able to get a job or keep a job, then you
would get a 100% rating, which means if you're single, no dependents, that would be almost
$1,600 a month.
I think its $1,572 a month increase from a 70 to a 100% rating.
Again, that substantial increase in benefits means that VA is going to take a harder look
at it and see if there's a way that they can deny you and not have to pay you on that big
increase.
With that, again, the success rate's just going to be less.
How do you overcome that?
Well, like I said, the deck is sort of stacked against you, so you have to present a strong
case, as strong as possible, to essentially make it impossible for VA to deny.
Because again, if they can find a way to deny you, they're going to deny it.
You want to essentially look at your case with a very critical perspective, find every
weakness that you can, and try to strengthen that so that that's not a basis for VA to
deny the claim.
After you've done that, then again, the only reasonable alternative is for VA to grant
the 100% rating because the evidence demands that result.
Again, an attorney can help identify those weaknesses, they can help you develop the
evidence to overcome those.
Again, the stakes are so high, again, from the 70 to a 100, we're talking almost $1,600
a month, and do the math on a year and over the course of your life, and we're talking
some substantial money at that point.
Again, these type claims, TDIU, you really want to think about getting an attorney.
Doesn't have to be me.
You can find somebody else out there, but seriously look at it and see if you can find
one that you would like to work with.
In my next video, I'll talk a little bit about some other reasons why an attorney may be
helpful as we get into the details of what you have to prove in that claim.
Thanks for watching.
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Thanks for watching today.