What Does Va Individual Unemployability Mean

For VA unemployability purposes substantial gainful employment means work that provides an annual income above the federal poverty threshold.

What does va individual unemployability mean. This phrase means that the Veteran has a physical emotional mental or other condition that significantly impairs important life functions on an ongoing basis. On the other hand the income can be from a job that is considered to be sheltered. In fact VA unemployability does not always mean that a veteran is not working. Perhaps the veteran has a back injury not service-connected and also PTSD service-connected.

The key however is where the income comes from. The disability rating from 10 to 100 is the only subjective element. According to VA regulations you usually cannot benefit from a total disability rating based on individual unemployability if you are maintaining gainful employment Gainful employment is defined as any job that puts you over the poverty line and that does not include special accommodations. Individual Unemployability IU is a unique part of VAs disability compensation program.

In VA law such claims frequently go by the abbreviation TDIU referring to a Total Disability rating based upon Individual Unemployability. You cannot do your prior occupation or past work. Namely a single service-connected disability rating of 60 or a combined service-connected disability rating of 70. Overview of VA Individual Unemployability TDIU Total disability based on individual unemployability TDIU is a disability benefit that allows veterans to be compensated at VAs 100 percent disability rate even if their combined schedular rating does not equal 100 percent.

Since Individual Unemployability Benefits pay veterans at the 100 rate it does not really make sense to apply for IU if you are receiving 100 rating. Individual Unemployability allows a veteran with a service-connected condition rated less than 100 to be rated at the 100 level because the condition makes the veteran unemployable. You must be a Veteran. You must be a Veteran.

It is a common misunderstanding that a veteran can only qualify for a TDIU rating if he meets or exceeds a certain percentage disability requirement. Individual Unemployability Individual Unemployability IU is basically an exception to the rules of Total Ratings. If the doctor concludes that the veteran is unemployable as a result of the PTSD issue irrespective of any problems that could be caused by the back injury that would be useful for the TDIU rating determination. And veterans must either have one disability thats rated at 60 percent or more or multiple disabilities with one being rated at at least 40 percent and a total rating of 70 percent or more.

On one hand all income earned from employment must be at or below the poverty level. 38 CFR 416 is the section in the federal regulations that define unemployability. It allows VA to pay certain Veterans compensation at the 100 percent rate even though VA has not rated their service-connected disabilities at that level. Who Is Eligible for Individual Unemployability.

On the other hand with a 100 disability rating there are not the same restrictions on work activity as with unemployability. VA considers a veteran to be unemployable if they are unable to obtain or maintain substantial gainful employment. Under the TDIU regulations a veteran is entitled to TDIU if a veterans service-connected disabilities prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful employment. Individual Unemployability is a part of VAs disability compensation program that allows VA to pay certain Veterans disability compensation at the 100 rate even though VA has not rated their service-connected disabilities at the total level.

There is the additional chance that upon re-reviewing your documentation the VA may actually decrease your monthly benefits. Individual Unemployability allows VA to pay certain Veterans at the 100-percent disability rate even though their service-connected disabilities are not rated as 100-percent disabling. The VA refers to this as substantially gainful employment. In 2019 that threshold for one person is 12490.

To meet these terms in your claim you need to substantiate two things. Individual Unemployability on the other hand is almost entirely subjective. What does it mean to be unemployable according to VA rules. A total disability rating based on individual unemployability TDIU or IU is just an alternate means for a disabled veteran to qualify for a 100 rating.

Unemployability allows a veteran who is unable to work to receive compensation at the 100 level even though their service-connected condition does not meet the 100 rating criteria.