so

hi everyone thanks for tuning in to another  edition of cck live my name is michael estrido  

um and today i am joined by nicholas briggs and  alexandra gamache in this video we're going to  

explain how to read your va award letter so alex  uh starting with you can you tell us a little bit  

about what exactly a va award letter is yeah so  a va award letter is issued by the department  

of veterans affairs when a decision has been  issued regarding a veteran's claims for benefits  

specifically the letter will indicate a veteran's  disability rating or ratings along with the  

corresponding amount of monthly compensation  throughout this facebook live we'll talk about  

different sections contained in the war in the  award letter it's important to note that some  

decisions may look different in the order in which  these sections are listed may vary between the  

decisions however what's explained below is the  general content of what's contained in each award  

letter yeah and that's really important to to note  alex because i know in my experience i have seen  

different versions of an award letter things  organized differently updates to how things  

are templated so nick turning to you can you  tell us though generally what does an award  

letter look like in your experience and you  know what do those sections include sure so  

first and foremost they're going to tell you that  they made a decision um that'll be the first line  

of the letter um typically the next section will  be a what we decided and it will include a brief  

summary of the claimed conditions as well as  what va did with those conditions be it granting  

a service connection and assigning an effective  date granting an increased rating or denying the  

issues altogether so for example if you were  granted an increased rating for your ptsd  

this section might read something along the lines  of evaluation of post-traumatic stress disorder  

currently evaluated at 30 disabling is  increased to 50 effective from january 29 2012  

and again the key pieces of information here  are always going to be what the rating was what  

the rating is now and then what the effective  dates going to be moving on following from that  

written description which again will be fairly  brief they may also include a table showing you  

your combined ratings and their corresponding  effective dates but that doesn't always happen  

realistically all you're going to see is a  second table regarding your payment level  

meaning how much you get paid per month and the  effective dates of those effective pay increases  

the important information to note here is  largely going to be one year amount of monthly  

compensation and that will generally speaking  reflects what your combined ratings are from those  

dates as well as the effective date that you were  assigned that new monthly amount of compensation  

and then there will also be some changes some  occurring year by year those often are done to  

reflect the cost of living adjustment that happens  as well as any dependents or other people coming  

on and off your award finally the award letter  will talk about your dependents themselves  

they'll let you know if your spouse is on your  award as well as the number of children that  

are currently active because that also affects  the amount of money that you'll receive each month  

thanks nick and really next then in the  award letter what veterans will see is an  

explanation of options to appeal so this is  essentially what do you do if you disagree  

with va's decision um and so if  you're dissatisfied with the outcome  

uh that's listed on your va award letter you  have rights to file an appeal if veterans  

receive the rating decision and va award letter  after on or after i should say february 19th  

2019 their appeals will be processed in the new  appeals modernization act system which is the ama  

so under the ama there are three appeal options  to appeal an initial rating decision and those  

will be outlined for you in your award letter the  first option is to select the higher level review  

lane the second option is to file a supplemental  claim lane appeal and the third option is to  

file a notice of disagreement which is an appeal  filed directly at the board of veterans appeals  

your award letter will list your appeal options  and the corresponding forms that should be used  

for each option and so one thing that's very  different under ama is that there are different  

forms that must be used to file an appeal for  each one of those different review options those  

appeal options that i just outlined so it's  critical that if a veteran receives a decision  

and they're looking to appeal they disagree with  the outcome that they take a look and see what  

specific form is listed on the reward letter  to know how to properly file their appeal and  

for help filing an appeal you may want to consider  seeking an accredited attorney or representative  

an accredited rep who understands the complex  nature of va's appeal process can help secure  

benefits and can navigate through particularly the  complexities of the new ama system uh alex turning  

back over to you is there anything else included  in a veteran's letter that we should know about  

yes so aside from what we've already mentioned  you'll also find a section for additional  

benefits that kind of outlines other benefits va  offers some of these additional benefits include  

education training student loans medical care  and treatment home at home adaptation and  

different loans for that automobile benefits life  insurance payment for travel and state specific  

benefits aside from all of the information  listed on what we call the cover letter  

you'll also get enclosed rating decision narrative  which kind of details why va is granting denying  

or deferring the different issues and it sort of  gives an in-depth explanation as to va's decision  

and you'll also get included a  code sheet which is essentially  

a sheet that displays the veterans  conditions as well as their diagnostic  

codes and their ratings plus any  additional benefits such as tdiu or smc

and nick how would a veteran get their hands on a  copy of the reward letter how typically would they  

receive this so by and large veterans are going to  receive their decisions via mail va is obligated  

to provide you with a copy and they'll mail it  out as soon as it's finalized however if for some  

reason it doesn't come via mail for one reason  or another there are still additional ways that  

you can get a copy for one you can log into your  ebenefits account and print and digitally save a  

copy of the letter if you are represented by a  national service organization or by an attorney  

you can reach out to their office and ask for a  copy and then finally if for some reason va's copy  

didn't make it to you you can reach out to your  local regional office either be a telephone or in  

writing and request a copy that way as well so one  way or another it's pretty easy to get a copy you  

just need to take the initiative and request one  if you didn't receive the one they mailed to you  

great yeah thank you nick thank you alex i  i think that about does it actually for this  

edition of cck live thank you all for joining us  more informat more information on va award letters  

appeals accredited representation can all be found  on our website cck-law.com we have a number of  

videos blog posts um on all of this information  and other information that can be very helpful  

and useful in prosecuting your case um also be  sure to check us out on social media and on our  

youtube channel and until next time thank you  for joining us and we look forward to seeing you

you