0:05 [Music]
0:07 in this video I explain our four-step
0:09 process to writing a winning statement
0:11 in support of claim what's up fellow
0:13 vets Klay Houston here former Blackhawk
0:15 pilot in the US Army Reserve and now
0:17 content writer here at Via claims
0:19 Insider I've written uh like 50 plus
0:21 blogs on a wide range of topics
0:23 including how to get tdiu and a long
0:26 list of disabilities and today I'm going
0:29 to explain our four-step process for how
0:30 to write a winning statement in
0:33 supportive claim otherwise known as VA form
0:34 form
0:36 21-4138 a VA statement in support of
0:39 claim is a 3 to5 paragraph written
0:42 narrative that details the circumstances
0:44 and the facts of your disability it's
0:46 really useful for communicating to the
0:49 VA in your own words the severity of
0:51 your symptoms and how your disability
0:54 has negatively affected your work your
0:56 life and your social functioning and
0:57 those factors are really important
1:00 because they are how the VA will
1:02 determine your rating percentage it's a
1:03 common misunderstanding that the VA
1:05 rates disabilities what they actually
1:07 rate are the symptoms produced by your
1:09 disability and generally speaking the
1:11 worse your symptoms are and the more
1:13 they negatively affect your life the
1:15 higher your rating will be and so uh
1:17 statements in suppor of claims are just
1:19 one way that you can show the impact of
1:21 your symptoms now let's get into our
1:23 four-step process for writing a winning
1:25 a statement in support a claim I'm going
1:27 to include specific examples for you but
1:29 first there's just a few like quick tips
1:31 that I want to go over it's really
1:33 important that you are open and honest
1:35 and vulnerable when writing this you
1:37 don't want to undersell it and you don't
1:39 want to oversell it either you want to
1:41 tell the VA exactly how your disability
1:43 affects your life and generally speaking
1:45 less is more you don't want to write a
1:47 whole novel in the remark section for
1:50 the VA they don't have time to read that
1:51 and it probably will hurt your chances
1:53 because they might end up just skimming
1:54 it now like I said you should write
1:56 these four steps out in the remark
1:59 section of your VA form 21-4138 the
2:01 section of above that one is for your
2:02 identification information and all
2:04 that's pretty self-explanatory all right
2:06 so step number one you want to list the
2:08 name of the disability that you're
2:09 claiming in the first section of the
2:11 remarks so in this first paragraph we'll
2:13 call it you want to list the name of
2:15 your disability and we recommend
2:17 including the diagnostic code as well
2:20 and you can find that in CFR title 38
2:22 part 4 which is the schedule for rating
2:25 disabilities diagnostic codes or DCs are
2:28 four number indicators that the VA uses
2:30 to categorize all of the dis abilities
2:32 that they rate so for example if you're
2:34 a first-time filer for PTSD you're going
2:36 to name it as follows in this first
2:39 paragraph they'll call it DC 9411
2:40 post-traumatic stress disorder
2:43 parentheses PTSD due to combat
2:44 deployment to Iraq or whatever the
2:46 circumstances are that you claim caused
2:49 your PTSD step number two you want to
2:51 explain the approximate time frame that
2:53 your disability began along with why you
2:55 think it should be service connected so
2:57 in the second paragraph you should
3:00 explain in terms of month and year
3:01 that's specific enough for the VA of
3:04 when your symptoms began and you also
3:06 want to tell the writer who's going to
3:09 read your VA form 21-4138 to explain
3:11 what happened to you when it happened
3:12 and where it happened so for example if
3:14 you're a first time filer for PTSD using
3:16 that example again you need to explain
3:19 the event that you claim was stressful
3:21 enough to cause your PTSD and it must
3:23 have taken place during and because of
3:25 your military service in order for it to
3:26 be service connected so this could be
3:29 anything from an IED blast to a sexual
3:31 assault and generally speaking if you
3:33 genuinely feared for your life then it
3:36 is considered traumatic enough to cause
3:38 PTSD now if you're filing for an
3:39 increase to a disability that's already
3:41 rated by the VA in this paragraph you
3:43 want to go ahead and explain how long
3:44 you've had your rating and why you're
3:47 filing for an increase for example
3:48 here's how you could phrase it I've been
3:50 rated for disability for a number of
3:52 years but my symptoms have worsened in
3:54 these ways and then you list the ways
3:56 and then you can say that's why I feel
3:58 like I deserve a rating increase step
4:00 number three you want want to list the
4:02 current symptoms of your disability in
4:05 terms of frequency severity and duration
4:07 over time so this is where you want to
4:09 explain the symptoms caused by your
4:11 disability in detail and this is
4:13 critical because like I mentioned before
4:15 this is how the VA will determine your
4:16 rating so if you suffer from sticking
4:18 with the PTSD example if you suffer from
4:22 PTSD that causes major impacts you want
4:24 to write down all the symptoms with
4:26 examples of when you experience the
4:27 symptoms this will help the VA get a
4:29 clear picture of the impact your
4:31 symptoms have on your life so here's an
4:33 example of what you could write in this
4:35 paragraph you could say I suffer from
4:38 severe symptoms of PTSD and now have hyp
4:40 sensitivity to light and Loud Noises
4:42 constant anxiety and depression near
4:44 constant panic attacks sweating heart
4:46 racing you get the idea you want to list
4:48 all the symptoms that you are suffering
4:50 from because of your PTSD and then you
4:52 also in this paragraph want to explain
4:54 how often you experience those symptoms
4:56 and how long those symptoms last when
4:58 you do experience them step number four
5:00 you want to explain how your disability
5:03 negatively affects your work life and
5:04 your social life and in this paragraph
5:07 it's best to use two examples here's an
5:08 example of something that you could
5:10 write in this paragraph you could say my
5:12 PTSD has negatively affected my work and
5:14 life in many ways I've been divorced
5:16 twice and don't have relationships with
5:18 my children anymore I lost my job
5:19 because I can't get along with my
5:22 co-workers or supervisors you could also
5:24 include that I have severe depression I
5:26 constantly check windows doors and locks
5:28 out of an OCD like paranoia so that's a
5:30 really intense example someone with
5:31 those symptoms would probably get a
5:34 pretty high rating for their PTSD all
5:36 right folks that's all I got for you in
5:37 this video those are the four steps for
5:39 writing a winning statement in
5:41 supportive claim thanks for watching uh
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