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Answers to Veterans’ Common Questions on IU Benefits – Attorney Neil Woods of Woods & Woods explains - YouTube
Channel: WoodsWoodsLaw
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- Hey guys, this is Neil Woods.
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I'm an attorney with Woods and Woods attorneys,
and today we're gonna talk about Individual
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Unemployability benefits.
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I think one of the best ways to start this
is to explain to veterans there's a lot of
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different names for Individual Unemployability
benefits, and a lot of people don't realize
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they're actually the same thing.
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Total Disability Individual Unemployability
is the formal name.
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And it's also called TDIU
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benefits, IU benefits, Individual Unemployability,
VA Unemployability.
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So you can see how a lot of veterans that
are applying for these benefits get confused
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just because there's so many different terms
for the same thing.
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So today we're gonna go through Individual
Unemployability benefits and just kind of
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cover a lot of the basic questions that clients
ask us when they first call.
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To start off, Individual Unemployability benefits
are strictly for veterans that have employment
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issues from their service-connected disabilities.
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If you cannot work from non-service-connected
disabilities, you're not gonna be eligible
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for Individual Unemployability benefits.
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Veterans with non-service-connected disabilities
are only eligible for various forms of pension,
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while veterans with service-connected disabilities
are able to get compensation.
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Individual Unemployability benefits fall under
the compensation wing.
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Let's kind of just start off, basically, these
are a lot of the most common questions that
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veterans ask us.
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First one is; Do I need both mental and physical
conditions to get IU benefits?
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No, you don't.
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Now, granted the large number of clients that
we are able to get Individual Unemployability
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benefits, do have a combination of mental
and physical disabilities.
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The reason being, let's just say you have
really severe mental disabilities, that's
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probably going to keep you out of a workplace,
like an office.
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And then if you also have the physical disability
side, you're going to be kept out of workplaces
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like a construction site, loading docks, things
that require physical activity.
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You can get Individual Unemployability benefits
for either mental or physical conditions or
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both.
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The next one is: Will the VA consider all
my conditions for IU benefits?
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The VA is gonna really consider only two different
types of conditions for Individual Unemployability
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benefits.
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The first one is direct service-connected
disabilities.
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Those are injuries that happen directly from
your service, and the other type of benefit
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that they're going to accept is secondary
service-connected conditions.
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What is the VA says I'm not eligible under
the VA Unemployability Requirements?
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This is pretty common.
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The VA does not just like to hand out Individual
Unemployability ratings, and so a very very
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large number of veterans are forced to go
into the appeals process.
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If you received your denial on Individual
Unemployability benefits within the last one
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year, you can appeal.
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You can look on your rating decision letter
that you received from the VA, and it's going
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to have a date on there by when you must file
an appeal.
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If you have let that appeal period collapse,
you can file a new application and start the
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whole process over.
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Now.
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that's kind of the long way to do it, but
at least you're not gonna be completely barred
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from getting Individual Unemployability benefits.
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What if my disabilities have worsened since
my last rating decision?
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So if you received a rating decision more
than a year ago, and since then your conditions
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have worsened and you now cannot work, you
can file an increased rating application and
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you can notate on there that you cannot work,
and then that's when you can go after your
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Individual Unemployability benefits.
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So, you know, just to kind of recap what happens
there, a veteran, let's say in 2016 received
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a decision for a back injury and they got
a 40% rating.
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Here we are a few years down the road, the
back condition has worsened and it now is
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preventing that veteran from working, and
secondary to the back condition you know they
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may have some other things that are popping
up now that the condition's gotten worse.
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So now what you can do is just file an increased
rating application and go after IU benefits.
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The next one is: Should I apply for Individual
Unemployability benefits if I have a 100%
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rating?
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It doesn't really make sense to do it.
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You're Individual Unemployability benefits
pay veterans at the 100% rate.
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So if you're already receiving a 100% rating,
you're not gonna get any more compensation
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monthly if you obtain an Individual Unemployability
rating.
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And the other thing is if you already have
a 100% rating, and you reopen that to try
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to get Individual Unemployability, the VA
is going to re-review your medical documents.
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And if you let them do that, then you're gonna
give them a chance to where they could actually
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decrease the amount of monthly benefits that
you're receiving.
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The next one is: Are IU benefits permanent?
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No, they're not always permanent.
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Now, you can get a permanent and total rating
that says, basically, my conditions are not
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going to improve.
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Therefore, the VA should never re-examine
my rating, but I'll warn you; permanent and
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total ratings, that's not something the VA
just likes to hand out again because a lot
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of conditions the VA views as they could get
better through time with treatment.
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So, you know whether you have conditions that
are permanent and total and whether you should
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actually go after it, but just like I said,
I warn you they're not handed out left and
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right.
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So can a veteran receive Individual Unemployability
benefits if they're working?
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Yes, veterans can actually receive Individual
Unemployability benefits if they're working.
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Now here's the problem with that; you're trying
to argue to the VA that you cannot work and
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you have a job.
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So a lot of these claims are going to be denied.
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If you're currently working, getting Individual
Unemployability benefits can be pretty tough.
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We generally prefer when a client comes to
us for Individual Unemployability benefits,
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that they are not working.
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And the reason for that is the VA just does
not, once again, hand out Individual Unemployability
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ratings to people who are working.
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Now there's a couple situations that you can
get these IU benefits if you are working.
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The first thing is you have to be under the
Individual Unemployability income limits.
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So there's a cap on what you can get, and
it varies from year to year, it's based upon
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the poverty level.
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If you're currently employed and you want
IU benefits, there's two different types of
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jobs that, really, you can have.
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One is called marginal.
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Marginal means that you earn at or below the
poverty level in the same year as your effective
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date.
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Remember that: on the same year as your effective
date.
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That's kind of the important thing on marginal.
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Sheltered; these are the other types of jobs
that you can get Individual Unemployability
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benefits with.
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So basically what sheltered means is you have
accommodations at your job.
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Accommodations have to be pretty severe too.
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So what we see a lot of times on veterans
that are working and get IU benefits, or where
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they're working for a family member, they're
allowed to come and go as they please.
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They're given freedom that they wouldn't be
given at any other job.
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That employer allows them to basically just
leave when they want, sometimes they're not
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good with clients because of PTSD.
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So you see in a lot of family businesses,
they allow veterans to do this, to work there.
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Those veterans can get IU benefits because
they're basically unemployable except for
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the fact that a family member or friend likes
them and let them work there.
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I just want to stress, it is very, very hard
to get IU benefits if you are working.
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So will the VA consider my assets for Individual
Unemployability?
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No, they're not going to look at your assets.
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The only thing that they're going to look
at monetary-wise is they're going to look
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at your income level.
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Particularly the year of your effective date.
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And some people ask, you know, I have a lot
of disabled veterans relying on their support
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systems while they're applying for IU benefits.
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So, you know, they'll be living with a, you
know, a cousin and maybe have an aunt that,
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you know, pays to drive them somewhere all
the time and someone else that buys them food
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and things.
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If you're receiving help from a network of
folks, that is not going to be considered
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income under the VA's rules.
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So if you're receiving assistance, friends,
family, organizations out there, that's not
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going to be counted as income.
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Can I get Social Security Disability and Individual
Unemployability Yes, you actually can.
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You can get both benefits at the same time.
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And that's something that we do here at the
firm for a lot of clients.
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I want to warn you: Individual Unemployability
and Social Security Disability Insurance are
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two totally separate programs.
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And remember, in Social Security, there's
two different types.
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There's Supplemental Security Income (SSI),
and then there's SSDI, which is for people
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who have worked.
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SSI is for people who have not worked.
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SSI is going to look at your income limits,
so if you have veterans disability benefits,
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you could be getting enough, it knocks you
out.
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So today we're just going to talk about Social
Security Disability Insurance.
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Now that is for people who have worked, you
have to gain work credits.
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So it goes on, but there's some big differences
between Social Security and Individual Unemployability.
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The first one is they have different regulations,
and the VA and the Social Security Administration
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their rules are totally separate.
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Their guidelines are totally separate.
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They each get to set their own eligibility
guidelines.
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There's not really much overlap, so you can
be eligible for one and be denied for the
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other.
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That does happen pretty regularly.
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Just so if you get one, there's no guarantee
that you're going to get the other.
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The other thing is both the Social Security
Administration and the VA process claims really
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differently.
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Most veterans are going to find their Social
Security claim is settled well before their
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VA claim ever is.
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The Social Security Administration really
got their stuff together over the last couple
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years.
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And they're moving claims through a lot faster.
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Now that's not a guarantee.
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You may be at an office where they're deciding
Social Security claims that don't move as
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fast but expect a Social Security decision
first.
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And then sometimes years later, the VA disability
decision, they're both gonna look at different
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evidence.
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One of the other things is they're gonna look
at conditions differently.
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Let's just say, for example, veterans disability.
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You're not knocked out of it if you self-medicate
through drugs and alcohol.
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Let's just say you're a veteran who has severe
mental and physical conditions.
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One of them being PTSD, and you're applying
for IUU benefits.
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You're not going to be knocked out of the
VA disability game because you use drugs and
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alcohol to self-medicate for PTSD.
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Now, when it comes to Social Security Disability
if you have drugs and alcohol problems that
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can hurt your claim.
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So that's kind of, you know, each system is
going to be looking at the same set of facts,
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but in a different light.
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Oh, one thing I want to point out, you do
get work credits for your time serving in
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the military.
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So if you're trying to get Social Security
Disability along with Individual Unemployability,
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your time in the military, if it was within
the last so many years, you're going to get
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work credits from that.
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And that's gonna count towards your eligibility
for Social Security.
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One of the questions we get a lot is how much
Individual Unemployability back pay should
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I get.
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This really, really varies.
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For example, right now, if you're missing
12 months of Individual Unemployability back
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pay, that's just under $35,000.
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I mean, that's a lot of money.
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So if you apply for Individual Unemployability
and the day you filed a claim, potentially
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is your effective date.
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Some veterans, their effective dates, we can
go back further for some various reasons.
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So let's just say it takes the VA a full year
to decide your application.
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They finalize your application.
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They award you benefits.
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You're going to get that whole last year back
pay.
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Now, if you have to go into the appeals process,
which a large number of people who want IU
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benefits have to do, that whole time you're
going to be accruing back pay.
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So, you know, right now, veterans' disability
appeals are taking four years and that's not
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from the date you filed the claim.
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That's from the date you started the appeal
process, but just remember at the end of it,
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when you're approved, you're going to get
all those back benefits.
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A lot of veterans find that their back pay
is well over a hundred grand, because if you
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look at the payment amounts, you know, over
$2,900 a month for IU benefits, and then you
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take four years, man I mean, you're up to
120, 130, somewhere in there.
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Back pay is just gonna vary for every case.
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Every case is really different.
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Every veteran is going to have a different
effective date, and they're going to process
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claims differently.
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So there's no set amount of money that you're
going to receive.
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Let's go through one of the things that a
lot of people that call the misconceptions
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about Individual Unemployability.
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For some reason, a lot of veterans that call
us think if you have a college degree that
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you are not eligible for Individual Unemployability
benefits, that's not true.
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If you have a college degree, you can get
Individual Unemployability benefits.
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I'm not really sure where this rumor came
from, but we hear it a lot from veterans that
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have worked with service organizations.
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And I don't know if this is just a rumor that
they're teaching out there somewhere, but
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it's not true.
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If you have a college degree, you can still
get IU benefits.
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Previous denials, that's kind of a, a lot
of people think if they were denied years
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ago for IU benefits, and they let their, they
didn't appeal, they didn't fight the appeal.
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Or even if you fought the appeal, doesn't
matter.
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If you have a claim from years ago that's
closed, it's over with, and you were not awarded
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IU benefits, that is not necessarily the end
of the road for your fight.
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You can file as many Individual Unemployability
applications as you want.
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That's kind of a VA disability law secret
that a lot of people don't know.
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They think you have one shot and it's over
with, and that's not true.
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So if you were denied a couple of years back,
and you still can't work from your service-connected
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disabilities, you may still be eligible.
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Don't think that was the end of the road for
your chance of getting benefits.
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This is one of the other misconceptions: people
believe that National Guard and Reservists
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are not eligible for Individual Unemployability
benefits.
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Well, they are if they were activated by the
Federal government.
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Now here's where this gets tricky.
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If you were activated by the state government,
that doesn't count.
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So let's just say your state, I'll use Texas.
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Let's just say Houston.
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They recently had a lot of flooding.
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A very large portion of the city was underwater.
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The governor called in the National Guard
and the Reservists.
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Those veterans, if they were injured will
not be eligible because they were activated
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by the state government.
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Now let's go back a few years back and look
at when New Orleans was hit by hurricane Katrina.
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At that time, the Federal Government did activate
the, it was actually George W. Bush that activated
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the National Guard.
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So, well not all units, some were activated
by the state government.
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But, if you were actually in a unit that was
activated by the Federal Government, by the
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President, and you went in there and you were
injured and you can't work from that, you're
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going to be eligible for Individual Unemployability
benefits.
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A lot of National Guard and Reservists may
not remember exactly who activated them.
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And that's fine.
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You can give us a call.
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That's something that we can look into and
if it was the Federal Government, then we
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maybe have something we can help you with.
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Now there's a couple of things here.
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Just kind of in with this, you must be a veteran.
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That's the first one, obviously.
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The second one is you must have at least one
service-connected disability rated at 60%,
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or two or more service-connected disabilities
with at least one disability ratable at 40%
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with a combined rating of 70% or more.
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Okay.
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That's a lot of words.
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What exactly does that mean?
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Here's what it means.
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If you have one service-connected disability
that is rated at least 60%, you may be eligible
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to get IU benefits one day.
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Here's the other way to get it.
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If you have two or more service-connected
disabilities, one of them needs to equal 40%
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and then all of them together equal 70.
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It's like a two-tiered system on how to be
eligible for IU benefits.
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And for some reason, those two sentences confuse
a lot of people.
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So once again, if you're confused by that
and you just, you kind of want to talk about
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your eligibility on that, feel free to give
us a call.
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You know, if you're out there and you're watching
this and you have more questions at the end
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of this video than you did before you started
it, I'm sorry, but you can always call us.
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Anytime, you know, there's never a charge
for legal consultations here.
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Our law firm focuses solely on Individual
Unemployability benefits.
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That's all we do here.
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Our staff of almost 90 people are dedicated
to nothing but Individual Unemployability
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claims and the processing of them.
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And you know, at any given time we're helping
thousands of clients here.
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So if you just want to talk about your eligibility
for IU benefits, we're here.
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You can always check our website if you'd
like to learn some more information, and that's
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woodslawyers.com.
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Thanks a lot.
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