How to Check Your VA Claim or Appeal Status
Veterans who applied for disability claims or any other form of claims can now check their VA claim or appeal for compensation. Waiting to learn about your VA claim status can be a tasking process, as such, we have put together a guide on how to check your VA claim status or appeal your status.
Although the VA is not famous for its promptness in approving disability claims and appeals, we have provided all the information needed to facilitate prompt responses to your claims or appeal.
Contents
What Type of Claims or Appeals Can I Track?
With this guide, you can check the status of a VA claim or appeal for compensation. You can also track your:
- Disability compensation (including claims based on special needs like an automobile or clothing allowance)
- Veterans or Survivors Pension benefits
- Special monthly compensation (such as Aid and Attendance)
- Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
- Burial allowance to help pay for a Veteran’s burial and funeral expenses
You can also use this tool to check the status of a claim or appeal for other benefits like these:
- VA health care
- GI Bill or other education benefits
- Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E)
- A home loan Certificate of Eligibility (COE)
- A Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) or Special Housing Adaptation (SHA) grant
- Life insurance
- A pre-need determination of eligibility to be buried in a VA national cemetery
VA Claim Status Tracking Requirements
To track the status of your claim or appeal, you will need the following accounts.
- A verified Login.gov account, or
- A verified ID.me account, or
- A Premium DS Logon account (used for eBenefits and milConnect), or
- A Premium My HealtheVet account
How Long Do VA Claims Take?
The VA benefits claims are generally processed within four months. However, this do not include appeals. In some cases, appeals can take years to resolve.
How Do I Track My VA Claim Status?
There are a number of ways in which you can check your VA claim status. You can check your claim status online, via telephone or by visiting the regional VA office.
1. How to Check Your VA Claim Status Online
To check your VA claim status online, follow the procedures outlined below.
- Visit the VA website: https://www.va.gov/claim-or-appeal-status
- Sign in with your DS Logon, My HealtheVet, or ID.me account. If you don’t have an account, we’ll prompt you to create one.
- On the dashboard, navigate to the “My VA” tab.
- Thereafter, scroll down to “Track Claims”. Here you will see a list of any open claims as well as appeals.
- To track the status of your VA claim, click on “View Status”. Here you will also be able to view supporting evidence such as medical reports and test results.
Additionally, you can also upload additional evidence to support your claim on the portal. However, this will only work for a disability claim, not for an appeal.
Furthermore, you can also check your claim status if you have an eBenefits account. To get started, log in to your account, navigate to “manage benefits” and you will be redirected to where you can check your claim status.
How to Check Your VA Status by Phone
You can also check your VA claim status by phone. To get started call the number 1-800-827-1000. You can call the number from Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.
How to Contact the VA through IRIS
In another way, you can contact the VA through their website by filling out this contact form. On this page, you can ask them about the status of your claim. You will get a response via email or telephone or mail if that is what you requested.
How to Check Your VA Claim Status by Visiting a VA Office
Another method of checking your claim status is by visiting your regional VA office. You can use this location finder to locate the VA office in your region. Once you have located the regional office, it is best to phone in and enquire about their opening hours.
Once you know the opening house, you will need to visit the regional VA office with your personal details, ID, and claim number.
What Your VA Claim Status Means
Once you have checked the status of your VA claim, you will want to know exactly what each status type means. Here are the mains ones and what they say about the progress of your claim:
Claim Received Status
Once the VA receives your claim, it’s status will be “claim received.” However, it has not been assigned to a reviewer yet. You don’t get more details than this, but at least you know they got it.
Under Review Status
If your claim is “under review,” this means that a reviewer is reviewing it to find out if any more information is needed from you. During this stage, the VA representative will also analyze the results of your VA Compensation and Pension exam.
Gathering of Evidence
If a claim is in the “gathering of evidence” stage, this means that the reviewer has deemed that more evidence is required. They will collect this evidence, either from you, your health care providers, government agencies or any other appropriate sources. If the VA representative needs additional evidence from you, you will be notified.
Review of Evidence
During this stage, all the evidence needed for your claim is present, and the claim is undergoing review by the VA.
Preparing for Decision
If your claim’s status is “preparing for decision,” the VA representative has reached a recommendation decision. They are busy preparing the documents necessary to present this.
Pending Decision Approval
At this point, the VA representative has filed their decision, and it is awaiting approval.
Preparation for Notification
If you see this status on your claim, it means that the decision is being prepared to be mailed to you.
Complete Status
“Complete” means that your claim has been fully finalized and that the award/decision has been sent to you in the mail.
How to Appeal VA Claims
You can appeal your VA claims if you have received an unfair ruling from the VA. To get started with your appeal, follow the procedures outlined below.
- Filing a written appeal in the form of a Notice of Disagreement with the VA
- After this, the VA will send you a Statement of Case and VA Form 9 (Appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals), which you will need to complete and submit to them within a year of their initial ruling, or six months from the date the Statement of Case was mailed
- Once you have submitted VA Form 9, you will need to choose whether to represent yourself during the appeal or have an attorney or a Veteran’s Service Organization (VSO) or state veteran department do so
- After you have filed your appeal, you will have 90 days to submit further supporting evidence or request a hearing
The above steps are the basic stages involved in appealing a VA claim. However, there is often a lot more to appealing a claim.
How to Check VA Appeal Status
Once you have filed an appeal on a claim, the next step is to check your VA appeal status. You can track your VA appeal status by following the same procedures outlined above for checking your claim status.
These are:
- Checking online by creating an account on the VA site or an eBenefits account
- Telephone the VA with your appeal number
- Visiting a regional VA office
In general, we would recommend that you use the online portal as you can use this to upload documents.
It is essential that you keep tabs on your VA claim appeal, as you may need to submit supporting evidence. If you fail to do so, this can prolong the appeal process.
