Capture your decision letter
- Record your rating decision details45 min
Every disability claim rests on three elements: a current diagnosis, an in-service event or aggravation, and the nexus (medical link) between them — plus symptom severity at the rating level for under-ratings. The decision letter states which element it found missing or insufficient for each issue; that missing element is the exact gap the rest of this claim must fill.
To do
Copy the date printed at the top of the rating decision letter — not the postmark or arrival date. Every deadline in this procedure is computed from that printed date.
Find it on the decision letter or on your va.gov claim status page.
From the rating code sheet, write one line per issue: condition name, diagnostic code, current percentage, and which element the letter said was missing — no diagnosis, no in-service event, or no nexus. For under-ratings, note which symptoms the next level requires that the current record lacks.
In 38 CFR Part 4, find the diagnostic code for each condition and copy the exact wording of the next rating level — this sentence is the standard the new evidence must meet.
To note down
What date is printed on the rating decision letter (not the date it arrived)?
Enter your claims file number (C-file number) from the decision letter.
List each denied or under-rated issue exactly as VA named it, with its diagnostic code.