Check the Status of your VA Benefits Rating Claim
There are eight steps that disability claims follow:
- Claim Received. Your claim is moved to this stage once it has been received by VA.
- Under Review. A Veterans Service Representative is reviewing your claim to determine if there is a need for additional evidence. This includes the results of your Compensation and Pension Exam, which VA will schedule.
- Gathering of Evidence. If the Veterans Service Representative deems that your claim requires additional evidence, he or she will request it from the appropriate sources.
- Review of Evidence. All evidence is received and is under review.
- Preparation for Decision. At this stage, the Veterans Service Representative has recommended a decision and is preparing documents detailing that decision.
- Pending Decision Approval. The Veterans Service Representative’s decision is reviewed, and a decision is made.
- Preparation for Notification. Your decision is being prepared for mailing.
- Complete. The award or decision is sent to you via U.S. mail, along with the details surrounding this decision.
VA allows veterans to check the status of their claims throughout the process in three ways:
- By visiting a local VA regional office;
- By calling VA’s national toll-free phone number at 800-827-1000; hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 A.M. to 9 P.M. Eastern Time.
- Logging into va.gov and using VA’s appeals tracker.
Online VA Appeals Status Tool: eBenefits
What is eBenefits?
eBenefits is a secure web portal provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense in an effort to provide veterans, service members, and their families self-service capabilities in managing VA and military benefits. This portal allows veterans, service members, and their families an array of self-service functions such as checking the status of a VA claim.
How to Access eBenefits
In order to access eBenefits, veterans and service members must be listed in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and create a DS logon. If you are not in the DEERS system, your local VA Regional Office can assist you. This logon is how you will access eBenefits and it remains valid through the rest of your life.
Checking VA Claim Status
To check the status of a VA claim using eBenefits, veterans will need the following:
- DS Logon, which is the same logon as your eBenefits account;
- My HealtheVet account;
- ID me account.
If you do not yet have a login, create an ID me account at vets.gov. Once you are logged in, select the “Check your claim and appeal status” option to access the appeals tracker tool.
The main page entitled “Your Compensation Appeals and Claims” will show the type of claim that is under appeal (e.g., Appeal of Compensation Decision), the date you received the claim decision, the appeal’s status (e.g., VA adjudicator is reviewing your appeal), the issues on appeal (e.g., increased rating), and a “View Status” option that will lead you to detailed information about your appeal.
On the “View Status” page, veterans can view the current status of their appeal followed by a description of what happens during the next step of the process (e.g., The Board will make a decision). On this screen, you may also select “See past events” which displays a timeline of events that have already occurred throughout your appeal process.
Below this timeline, you will see the “Current Status” of your appeal. If your appeal stage requires action, an alert box will be highlighted in yellow under this portion of the webpage. This section will describe what action must be taken in order to continue on with your appeal and the date by which it must be completed.
Importantly, under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), veterans will have one year to appeal unfavorable VA decisions. However, there are exceptions to this timeframe. For example, if veterans receive an unfavorable Board decision and choose to appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), they must do so within 60 days of judgment.
If veterans do not appeal within the timeframes outlined above, their decisions will become final. When a decision becomes final, veterans will lose their effective dates since the claim will no longer be continuous.
VA Claim Wait Times
Similar to the Legacy Appeals system, VA does not operate under any mandated deadlines. However, VA proposed several timeframe goals regarding the processing of decisions under AMA. Namely, in both the supplemental claim and higher-level review lanes, VA set forth a 120-day goal for issuing decisions.
