Claims

Nothing. The Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) was established in 1927 with the mission of advocating for the Veterans, families, and survivors of Texas Veterans. The Texas Veterans Commission provides quality service through a dedicated team and professional workforce of VA accredited staff located throughout forty-nine offices within the state.  Many of these offices are located within VA facilities to provide services and assist in the filing of VA compensation, pension, or survivor benefit claims.  TVC offers appointments for dedicated time between claimants with a staff member (either in an office, or by phone appointment). In close collaboration with the Texas Veterans Commission, many of the 249 counties of the state of Texas have Veteran County Service Offices typically located within their local county assistive services. The Veteran County Service Officers (VCSOs) work closely with TVC through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to also provide services at no fee to our state’s veteran residents seeking their benefits and entitlements.

TVC offers appointments both “In-Office” as well as “Phone Appointments” until (7:00 pm) to accommodate working personnel (for limited phone locations/appointments). The most important step initially is for individuals is to submit an “Intent to File” (VA Form 21-0966) which establishes a “Date of Claim” with the VA.  You also want to ensure that you have the necessary supporting evidence for your claim to (1) establish its existence, or (2) establish an increase of its severity/rating.

TVC representatives are located in most of the major VA Healthcare facilities in the State of Texas. You can go to the TVC main page to make an appointment for claims assistance.

In order to overturn a previous denial of a VA decision, evidence submitted must be “new and material” (38 CFR §3.156a) or “new and relevant” (38 CFR §3.156d), and not be redundant or repetitive in nature.

That really depends on the type of claim which you are filing, and if it is a new, or previously denied claim (appeal):

Compensation Claim(s) – This is for a service-connected medical condition, and you are seeking “Service-Connection” which results in a monthly entitlement (38 CFR §3.4).  Typically, you will want to have a diagnosis from a licensed medical/healthcare provider, as well as the supporting medical evidence/records to provide to the VA confirming XX or YY.

You are claiming medical condition XX or YY, meaning that you already have it or suffer from it.  The VA will send you to a Compensation and Pension (C&P) examination to affirm or deny the existence of the medical condition (not diagnose).

Pension Claim(s) – VA Pension is awarded to veterans who served during a period of war (Ref 38 CFR §3.2) and is based on income, assets, and Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) of the Veteran, spouse, and children within the household.  Certain expenses and assets, especially medical expenses, can be deducted from one’s income.  For this reason, it is especially important to be very forthcoming in one’s disclosure.

Dependents Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and Widows Pension (WP) – DIC is based on the Veteran passing away from a Service-connected death (38 CFR §3.5) , while Widows Pension (as with Veterans Pension) is based on income threshold and the veteran must have served during a period of wartime service.

• DIC – for awarding of DIC, the veterans cause of death must have been due to a service connected condition (SCC) and the SCC must be listed on the death certificate as the primary, secondary, or contributing cause of death.
• WP – for the awarding of WP, the veteran only simply had to serve during a recognized period of war and the claimant must meet the income threshold for awarding of benefits (below MAPR).  VA will only pay “Up to MAPR amount”.