There’s so much paperwork involved in processing claims for VA benefits. Here at Vet Comp & Pen, we have a lot of experience working with Veterans reviewing service-connected disabilities, understanding their symptoms, and assessing whether they are getting compensated appropriately. We also frequently identify secondary conditions for which Veterans were not even aware they were medically eligible to receive benefits.

We often notice that many Veterans are not taking full advantage of the additional monthly compensation that the VA pay tables show.

Children

If you’re rated at 30% or more and have dependent children, you get paid more money. The dollar amount is connected to your overall rating.

How much does this work out to?

At 30% overall rating, you get paid about $50 extra a month for a child, and then this amount goes up to $120 extra a month for someone with a 100% overall rating.

Spouses

If you’re married and you have a 100% overall rating, you get up to $177 more.

If you’re married with children and you have not noted this in your paperwork, you are missing out on hundreds of dollars a month that you are entitled to.

Elderly Parents

Many Veterans are not aware that older parents living with them are also considered dependents. This means you would be compensated the same for an elderly parent as you would for your children who live at home.

College Students

One of the categories most frequently missed when filling out forms is college students. If you’re 100% rated overall and you have a college-age child living with you, you are due an extra $277 a month. That is a considerable amount of money to leave on the table! If you have two children in college, that’s $550 a month – nearly $7,000 a year.

How does this get processed?

There is a form you must fill out for college-age children. The college must be a VA-approved college. You must also submit the student’s school schedule to qualify. If you have not filled out the form yet, you have up to a year after enrollment. The compensation would date back to the original enrollment date of the student.

We hope that clarifying these benefits brings some value to you. If you are unsure about having Vet Comp & Pen review your disability situation, bear in mind that you have nothing to lose because we will review your case for free. If there is medical evidence that can support an increase or a secondary condition claim for you, it would be well worth your while to give us a call. If we can’t help you increase your ratings, you don’t pay us anything.

If you’d like to find out more about what we do to help Veterans navigate the VA claims process, check out our Problems We Solve page.