Okay, you have gone to every appointment, answered every question, and taken every test possible. Next, you and your service officer carefully filled out every form required and submitted them months before your year from the Intent to File is up. Eventually, you receive the notice that your claim has been denied.

This is not the end of the world. The VA even has a form to guide you through the process of appealing your denied claim. The VA Form 9 is the form used in your appeal of a health claim denial. The VA Form 9 is easy to fill out and can be used by a veteran, surviving spouse, or the children or parents of a veteran.

Before you submit the VA Form 9, you have to provide a Notice of Disagreement letter. This is a simple letter you send to the address at the top of the denial notification letter. In it, you only have to state which claims you are appealing.

This letter needs to be postmarked within one year of the claim denial. If the VA does not approve this initial appeal, the agency sends you a Statement of the Case (SOC) and the VA Form 9 with instructions on how to complete and file it with the VA Board of Appeals. The Statement of the Case provides you with all the information the VA used to come to its decision.  

If you have new evidence to support your appeal, the VA Form 9 is where you can provide a description of the evidence and attach copies of the examinations, tests, and other information. Once you’ve completed the form, the SOC provides the address where you can send it for processing and the type of Board hearing you can request if you wish to make a personal appeal.

As you are compiling your appeal, be sure to pay attention to the SOC, as it provides the legal reasons for the claim denial. If it appears that these reasons were not strictly followed, that provides additional data for a Board of Appeals to consider.

Do not attach information previously reviewed. The Board will already have it, but you can reference specific details if you feel information was not adequately considered or ignored altogether. Success at the Board of Appeals is not easy, but it can be done. Good luck!

In our next part of VSO 101, we will explore more on what to do when your claim is approved!

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