Guides

VA Claims Guides

How the VA disability system actually works, explained from the regulations and VA's own process pages. Every claim here links back to its primary source so you can check it yourself.

• VA Combined Ratings: Why 30% + 20% Is Not 50%

  How VA combines multiple disability ratings using the whole-person method in 38 CFR 4.25, why the math is never simple addition, and how the bilateral factor in 38 CFR 4.26 adds an extra 10 percent for paired limbs.

• VA Decision Reviews: Supplemental Claim vs. Higher-Level Review vs. Board Appeal

  The three ways to challenge a VA disability decision under the Appeals Modernization Act, what evidence each one allows, who reviews it, and the one-year deadline that protects your effective date.

• The VA C&P Exam: What It Is and How to Prepare

  What a VA compensation and pension exam actually measures, who conducts it, why the examiner does not decide your claim, and the preparation that protects your rating.

Have ratings for more than one condition? They combine, they don't add. Run the real VA math.