The January 2019 veterans disability benefits statistics report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is now available. Learn how unrated VA disability pension and compensation claims changed since December in our in-depth report analysis below.
January 2019 Veterans Disability Benefits Statistics: Claims Inventory Status
The January 2019 veterans disability benefits statistics report lists all claims for unrated disabilities filed with the VBA. The January 2019 veterans disability benefits statistics report lists all claims for unrated disabilities filed with the VA. On January 5, the VA claims inventory held 353,072 unrated applications. This month-over-month drop echoes the trend we saw in the last few months of 2018, despite this year’s COLA. Hopefully, this means first-time claimants are getting access to the benefits they need faster than ever
- As of January 5, 2019: 353,072
- As of December 1, 2018: 357,677
- Difference: -4,605
- Daily churn: -230 claims
This month’s unrated VA claims inventory numbers rose just over 4% compared to those reported in January 2018. In addition, just over 1 in 3 claims pending in the inventory category are from first-time applicants (36%). Here’s a closer look at how those unrated claims break down:
- 60% are first-time filers with seven or fewer service-connected disabilities (76,710 veterans)
- 26.5% are first-timers filing claims for eight or more service-connected disabilities (34,146 veterans)
- 8% are initial survivors’ benefit claims (10,469 spouses, children or parents of deceased veterans)
- 5.7% are initial VA pension claims (7,288 vets)
January 2019 Veterans Disability Benefits Statistics: Claims Backlog Status
After 125 days, the VA automatically transfers any unrated inventory claims into the backlog category. Backlogged claims rose significantly in January compared to last month:
- As of January 5, 2018: 88,760
- As of December 1, 2018: 81,870
- Difference: +6,890
- Daily churn: +344.5 claims added to the backlog
Less than half the backlogged claims in the January 2019 veterans disability benefits report are from first-time applicants (46%). The January claims backlog grew 8.4% month-over-month compared to December 2018. Last year, backlogged claims increased more than 10% during that same 30-day period. So, we’d like to thank the VA for bringing those year-over-year numbers down quite a bit!
You May Qualify for Free Legal Assistance
A VA-accredited attorney handling your claim at the initial filing or appeals stage can improve your odds for securing benefits. Experienced attorneys in our network charge nothing to give confidential answers to all your VA claim questions. Why fight the VA on your own when you don’t have to? You’ll pay nothing for professional VA claim help unless a lawyer helps you win. And if your case does win, you’ll only pay a small, one-time fee.
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Lori Polemenakos is Director of Consumer Content and SEO strategist for LeadingResponse, a legal marketing company. An award-winning journalist, writer and editor based in Dallas, Texas, she's produced articles for major brands such as Match.com, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Xfinity, Mail.com, and edited several published books. Since 2016, she's published hundreds of articles about Social Security disability, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, personal injury, mass tort, auto accident claims, bankruptcy, employment law and other related legal issues.