VA Disability Compensation

You may be eligible for VA disability benefits or compensation if you meet both of these requirements.

Both of these must be true:

• You have a current illness or injury (known as a condition) that affects your mind or body, and
• You served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training

And at least one of these must be true:

• You got sick or injured while serving in the military—and can link this condition to your illness or injury (called an in-service disability claim), or
• You had an illness or injury before you joined the military—and serving made it worse (called a pre-service disability claim), or
• You have a disability related to your active-duty service that didn’t appear until after you ended your service (called a post-service disability claim)

For some conditions, we automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition. We call these presumptive conditions.

If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.

Click below to find out more about these categories of presumptive conditions:

• Illnesses within 1 year after discharge
• Exposure to hazardous chemicals and materials
• Benefits for former prisoners of war (POWs)