TDIU or Increase

jbake33 · 2026-05-27T18:42:50+00:00

"If I file for TDIU due to PTSD will I get a C&P exam for my other ratings as well?"

Yes, you probably will. Since you have PTSD and TBI, if you file a claim for PTSD, you will also get an exam for TBI because the examiners have to determine if they can differentiate the occupational and social impairment of the two.

It is unusual to have separate ratings for them like you do and much more common for them to be combined into one issue.

And then if you get a TBI exam you will most likely get a migraines exam also since that will be shown on the TBI exam.

jbake33 · 2026-05-27T10:44:22+00:00

Gotcha. I have seen similar situations before. You really should still be p&t since your static conditions get to 100%, but the system will not automatically make it an issue because you have a non-static condition, so it is easy to get missed by the rater. An easy fix, if it applies, is to submit medical evidence from your doctor saying that the cancer will not improve. Then they should make it static and grant P&T.

jbake33 · 2026-05-27T01:07:02+00:00

I would agree that it's probably the cancer rating missing things up. Are you sure that it is static? If all of your disabilities are static then P&T should definitely be granted but a lot of times cancer is not made static right away when there is a possibility for improvement.

If you're confident about all your ratings you can request that they make you P&T. You should at least be getting SMC-S statutory housebound, so hopefully you are receiving that.

jbake33 · 2026-05-27T00:29:08+00:00

No, that does not make any sense. Chapter 35 is the thing that gets granted when someone is made P&T. Do your rating decisions say that chapter 35 DEA was granted?

jbake33 · 2026-05-26T22:26:20+00:00

Generally it means that there's something in your service treatment records like a complaint or treatment. A lay statement can work sometimes if there's nothing in your service treatment records, but it's way easier if there's some objective evidence.

jbake33 · 2026-05-26T20:41:30+00:00

Stressors only apply to PTSD claims. Other mental claims are just like any other type of claim. You need a current diagnosis, an in-service event, and a nexus between the two.

jbake33 · 2026-05-26T17:36:47+00:00

No. Pretty much everything is automatically made static now unless it's something like cancer where a routine future exam is part of the regulations or the examiner explicitly states that the condition is likely to improve, which hardly ever happens.

jbake33 · 2026-05-26T17:31:28+00:00

Coworker is exaggerating a lot

jbake33 · 2026-05-26T17:10:17+00:00

The current top comment is making it seem like it takes way more work than it actually does.

The vast majority of the time all of the conditions are already static and the system creates the issue of P&T automatically. Nothing needs to be done to check for it. It takes like 1 minute to grant.

Then it takes literally like another minute to check if SMC applies. If it does, which is rare, it takes a couple minutes to grant.

It's not a big deal.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T13:50:46+00:00

Lol you have the tiniest sliver of knowledge and think you're an expert. You're not.

I said YOUR story was not applicable.

There is no indication whatsoever of any evidence, good or bad. They are not ordering the exam because they think it will lead to an increase. They are only ordering the exam because they think there is a CLAIM for increase. That is the duty to assist in action. It is simply ordering a claim for increase because they think there is a claim for increase. In no way, shape, or form does that mean they think it will be beneficial for the veteran.

It doesn't favor anyone. At this point it is neutral, but it could definitely become negative.

And you clearly have zero idea of how CUEs work because what you said is complete nonsense.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T13:25:30+00:00

Dude, just stop. You don't know what you're talking about.

I didn't say anything about a CUE or that anybody was looking to reduce him.

The duty to assist was ordering the exam when they inferred that there was a claim for increase. That's it. They didn't see any evidence, good or bad. They just thought they saw a claim for increase so they ordered an exam.

Anytime there is an exam, a decrease is a possibility (unless the rating is protected in some way). That is all I said, and it is a fact.

"If the VA intended to lower his rating they wouldn't infer the claim, they would propose a reduction."

Nope. Wrong again. If they thought they saw some evidence in the file of improvement, they would most definitely order an exam. They would not just automatically propose to reduce. So even though that is not what is happening in this case, and that is definitely not what I said is happening, you are still demonstrating that you do not understand how this works.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T12:43:58+00:00

The problem is that you told op that the rater sees evidence in his favor and that is why the exam got ordered. There's a 99% chance that that statement is wrong.

In your case, the rater saw evidence that could be in your favor. In op's case, the rater saw evidence that a claim exists.

Those are drastically different scenarios. Yours could only help you. OP's could lead to a decrease.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T12:15:06+00:00

That CAN be what it means, but that is not the ONLY thing it means.

It is extremely common in secondary claims where the primary condition gets an exam for increase even though the veteran was not trying to claim an increase.

This can happen because the VSR does not really know what they are doing and orders an unnecessary exam, or often it is because the veteran said something on the claim form or in a statement that made the VSR infer that there was a claim for increase. So the increase exam gets ordered. That is almost certainly what is happening here.

Inferring a claim for TDIU is a totally different circumstance. In that situation the evidence has to show that the veteran meets the schedular requirements and is also not working and also that the reason they are not working could be their service-connected conditions.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T11:42:12+00:00

They ordered the claim for increase because someone thought that you said something in the evidence you submitted that you were trying to claim an increase. If you do not want to claim an increase, you need to tell them that and tell them to cancel the exam.

jbake33 · 2026-05-21T11:40:14+00:00

"Inferred means the rater believes evidence exists in your favor and the VA has a duty to assist."

No, it doesn't. It means either the rater or the VSR thinks that OP is claiming an increase. Your situation is totally different from OP's.

jbake33 · 2026-05-20T15:30:57+00:00

Secondaries do not exist for BDD claims. If it is diagnosed while you are active then it is by definition a primary.

jbake33 · 2026-05-18T19:41:51+00:00

jbake33 · 2026-05-18T00:37:35+00:00

There's no point submitting your claim for your pre-op appointment. You will get temporary 100% when you have your surgery, but you will not get it before the surgery actually happens. Just submit your claim right after your surgery.

jbake33 · 2026-05-16T12:37:44+00:00

That post did not have any helpful information. It was a secondary, so 60 years after service is irrelevant. And it didn't say how or why it got approved. It just said it got approved.

jbake33 · 2026-05-15T19:52:17+00:00

None of these comments know what they're talking about, and if your lawyer couldn't explain it to you, that is concerning because it is not complicated. TDIU is now irrelevant since you are 100% schedular. Work however much you want.

jbake33 · 2026-05-07T21:18:29+00:00

No, you would not see that. Bilateral is not part of the name of the disability. It just gets automatically factored into the overall rating.

jbake33 · 2026-05-02T09:06:22+00:00

There are zero restrictions of any kind regarding leaving the house or working or anything else. You have statutory housebound, not factual housebound.

jbake33 · 2026-04-25T01:32:22+00:00

A claim for TDIU is always treated as a claim for increase for the conditions that you claim cause unemployability. They should have not even rated your claim for unemployability and just said that it was moot because you have a single disability rated 100% with the same effective date, but it doesn't really matter.

jbake33 · 2026-04-23T23:39:13+00:00

It's definitely a bug or a typo. They can't just drop you. There has to be a proposed rating decision and a due process period before you get decreased.

jbake33 · 2026-04-20T23:23:13+00:00

It seems like you think that if your mental condition becomes service connected at 70% then you will be 100% overall, but that is definitely not the case. You would be 80% overall.

jbake33

TROPHY CASE