Va Form 21-526 Part - B: Compensation

[PE1]

The form only has room for 9 complaints. How do you add more? What if you have more than 9 complaints? Do you just write a letter? Make photocopies of the for and staple it to the packet?

[jbasser]

Use an additional sheet of paper and attach it to the page.

[Berta]

I feel that you should state your prime SC conditions first and then add what you believe are secondary conditions.

Unless each condition has a separate nexus to your service.

Do you have a vet rep who is helping you prepare the 526?

[mitchell3006]

PE1,

Be careful listing too many complaints on the 526. You need to look around at archives here. It may be better to file for the conditions that are easiest to prove first. Two schools of thought there:

1st is put everything down on 526 to preserve eligibility date. This gives you more when finally decided but can delay developement of claim. Some say it may color the RO's view (as though it could get any worse).

2nd is to list only a few "sure things" (ex. amputations, gunshot residuals, surgeries,). Get them rated first as quickly as possible then go back for the others that may have needed more resarch or work to prove.

Alot depends on personal situation, health, and finances. Do you have copies of SMR's. Do you have clear diagnosis of condition.

Bounce it off the board and someone can give you advise.

Mark

[Commander Bob]

When adding additional pages to a form, remember to always put your claim # and name on the top of the page your attaching...

[carlie]

Also number your pages,

example:

p. 1 of 11

p. 2 of 11

p. 3 of 11

p. 4 of 11 etc...........

carlie

[Berta]

Mark- you said this much better then I could-

I have seen claims at the BVA where there were more than 20 issues.

And often all the claims were denied.

I sure agree- list primarily whatever you feel you have the best chance of proving-

Documented disabilities that have a probable nexus to service.

Also what I meant by secondary was-

say you claim diabetes due to AO but then after listing other unrelated issues -you claim heart disease.

These people we deal with are so dumb sometimes that they could perhaps award for the DMII but deny the heart disease which could be definitely secondary to the DMII yet was not claimed clearly as a secondary condition.

Another problem I see is that often veterans will claim a poorly defined condition.

I have seen vets claim hyperlipedimia-which is not a ratable condition.

Yet the condition they got the hyperlipedimia from could well be a ratable SC condition.

"Back problems" in a VA claim means nothing to VA.

IVDS or DDD does mean something.

Vague visual problems might not even trigger a C & P but cataracts would.

When a 526 is filled out, the medical problems become the 'issues'so

it pays to give the exact current medical diagnosis.

Men and women I can sure learn from you all -something from this topic- when I filled out my 21- 534 years ago I stated right on it -the exact basis of the 2 claims.Then I attached another page to expand on the basis of the claims.

So my question is when you all filled out the 526 -as this vet said-there isnt much room- so were you all advised to clarify and expand on the specific conditions you claimed SC for?

I have a 526 in front of me but there sure isnt much room at all for what seems to me to be the most important Section-Section III-

this comes after the questions about AO, Ionization etc- and asks how the claimed disabilities are related to your service.

I would think that part would definitly need additional page or pages.

Do vet reps take the time to actually prepare these things or really help a vet with the 526?

I wonder too if any vet has been locked into a poorly prepared 526.

Some medical conditions are not ratable at all and many would have no real nexus to a vet's service.

Then again I always say claim whatever you have disabling you-but that takes common sense too.

I have even seen claims at the BVA where the vet had claimed disabilities that there was absolutely no medical evidence of.It ticks me off to realise that these claims have taken up time that should go to deserving veterans.

Some of the claimed disabilities were very serious ones-yet the vet had no medical proof whatsoever they even had the disability.

Mark-your advise was right on the mark-

we are not wuestioning that a vet could certainly have many SC able conditions- it is just that we know how the RO works and how little time they take to really assess every disability properly.