When The Regional Office Turns Down Your Claim
You have choices:
- You can quit and give up;
- You can file a re-opened claim assisted by your Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative; or
- You can file a Notice of Disagreement and take an appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA).
If you want to take an appeal from a Regional Office Rating Decision to the BVA, then call or e-mail the Veterans Law Clinic (VLC) of Widener University School of Law for help
How Veterans Law Clinic Can Help You
- VLC does not compete with your National Veterans Service Officer who may have helped you with your original claim. It helps you after the VSO can take your case no farther. So VLC plugs a gap in veterans' assistance in Delaware and Pennsylvania by handling appeals to the BVA.
- VLC can give you a good evaluation of your case before the 365 day time limit for filing a Notice of Disagreement runs out.
- Having good advice, you can decide whether you want to take an appeal.
- VLC will represent you without charge if you meet poverty level criteria and have a good and meritorious claim under veterans' benefits law.
If you do not win before the BVA, VLC will take your appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) and beyond, if necessary.
