I get a lot of questions here at VA Claims Insider about Ebenefits and the VA.gov website.  Recently, there have been some changes to the process to check your status, file your claim, and submit additional evidence on your own behalf.  In the past it was an “all in one stop” option on Ebenefits, this has changed. We will go through the decision process within VA.gov, explain the new process, the claim status verbiage, and what website will be used for these things.  

What is Ebenefits

Ebenefits allows you to file the claim and will reroute you to VA.gov for most other things.  Here are the steps to check the status of your claim on ebenefits. Start with this link  

• Choose the login at the top right corner and use your ds login to access your account.  
• Once you are logged in, you will need to click on the dashboard button at the top right corner of this page to access your personal account information.

There are a lot of options here,  submit claims, update direct deposit, and check your claim status.  

• You will want to choose the disabilities link, it can be found if you scroll down or look to the list on the left of the page.  

This page will break down everything you have applied for and where it is at with the rating or the progress of the claim.  

• If you scroll the bottom you can see a pending list, choose any of the pending claims you would like to review.

Disability process

Something that can speed up the process as well, is to go under the disability tabs, look to see if you are in the “Review of Evidence. All evidence is received and is under review.” phase and you can choose the blue button and let the VA know you have nothing more to submit and it will kick it to the next phase, the rater will know that they are not waiting for any further evidence. You can also use the letter generator option to see your claim status, sometimes they generate a letter for mailing before they update your claim here and you can view that letter if it has been sent.

Now, let’s discuss the different stages a claim will go through from receipt of the claim to a final decision. It is laid out pretty clearly or ebenefits, however, we will go through the process using VA.gov,  sign in using your ds logon here as well, this will be the same name and password as ebenefits login. I found an article that broke these phases quite accurately and it is where I got my info.

“Claim Received. Your claim is moved to this stage once it has been received by VA.

Under Review. A Veterans Service Representative is reviewing your claim to determine if there is a need for additional evidence. This includes the results of your Compensation and Pension Exam, which VA will schedule.  

Gathering of Evidence. If the Veterans Service Representative deems that your claim requires additional evidence, he or she will request it from the appropriate sources.  

Review of Evidence. All evidence is received and is under review.  

Preparation for Decision. At this stage, the Veterans Service Representative has recommended a decision and is preparing documents detailing that decision.

Pending Decision Approval. The Veterans Service Representative’s decision is reviewed, and a decision is made.

Preparation for Notification. Your decision is being prepared for mailing.

Complete. The award or decision is sent to you via U.S. mail, along with the details surrounding this decision.”  

Decision process

Here I would like to remind you, as I mentioned above, that you can generate and review that letter on ebenefits and not wait for it in the mail to see your decision.  Also calling 1-800-827-1000 to check the status of your claim and the representative can update you with the particulars.

A VA Claims Insider tip is: It helps to do this periodically while waiting for your claim is processing because each time you call, they make notes and this somehow kick starts the process and it processes a bit faster.

I hope this will clear up a few questions and helps to further understand the different phases.  It can be nail-biting to wait for these processes to process, but this will give you enough information to stay ahead of the game.  Here at VA Claims Insider, we are always available to help, reach out if you have questions or would like additional help with any of these processes.