If you’ve been denied Veterans compensation benefits, you can appeal the decision.  

Two of the most common decisions that are appealed are:  

• Benefits were denied by the VA for a particular disability that you believe stems from your time spent in the service. 

• Your disability is far more severe than the Department of Veterans Affairs initially rated it to be. 

After you’ve decided you’d like to appeal the choice made by the Veteran’s Board, there’s a few different steps you must take in order to move forward: 

• A Notice of Disagreement (NOD) must be filed with the VA office, stating why you’re interested in appealing.  

• Once received, this will be reviewed by a decision review officer (DRO). It must be filed within one year of the date in which you received the initial decision. 

• From there, the VA will put together a Statement of the Case (SOC), which is a document that outlines the reasons for their decision. This will also contain all the evidence, laws, and regulations they applied to your case. 

• This item is typically mailed to you along with VA Form 9, which is the form that you will use to appeal. 

• From there, you would fill out VA Form 9 (above), stating the benefit(s) you’re actively attempting to appeal for, and the mistakes that you feel were made with the initial SOC. 

• You may also want to request a personal hearing when filing out the document. 

Once you have completed VA Form 9, it must be taken back to your local VA office either within 60 days of the date that you received your Statement of the Case document, or within one year of the initial VA decision denying your claim.