How to file a VA Supplemental Claim — VA Form 20-0995 with new and relevant evidence, or after a change in law
A Supplemental Claim is one of the three decision-review options for a VA decision dated on or after February 19, 2019. You can file one if VA decided your claim before, the claim is not a contested claim, and either you have new and relevant evidence (or can identify evidence for VA to gather) or you are asking for review under a change in law such as the PACT Act. VA helps develop the evidence — it will request records from VA facilities, other federal agencies and, with VA Form 21-4142, your private providers, and may schedule a claim exam. File online (disability compensation only) or on VA Form 20-0995 by mail, in person or through a free accredited representative. Filing within one year of the prior decision keeps the claim continuously pursued, so a grant pays from the original effective date.
What you'll need
- VA Form 20-0995 (Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim), or the online form for disability compensation claims
- Your prior decision letter (date and the issues decided)
- New and relevant evidence, or the names of facilities and treatment dates so VA can request records
- VA Form 21-4142 if you want VA to get records from a private health care provider
- A free accredited representative (CVSO or VSO)
Step-by-step
Step 1: Make sure a Supplemental Claim is the right option
Choose a Supplemental Claim when you have evidence VA has not considered, or when a law has changed (for example a condition that is now presumptive under the PACT Act). If you believe VA made an error on the evidence it already had, a Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996) asks a senior reviewer to look again without new evidence; a Board Appeal (VA Form 10182) sends the issue to a Veterans Law Judge. If a rated condition has simply gotten worse, do not file a Supplemental Claim — file a claim for an increased rating instead.
Step 2: Understand "new and relevant"
New evidence is information VA has not considered before; relevant evidence proves or disproves something in your claim. VA's own examples: a medical report that links a denied mental health condition to a service-connected injury, or a buddy statement from a fellow service member who witnessed the event that caused a denied back condition. Evidence does not have to be recent to be new — a service record VA never had counts. Unless your claim is based on a change in law, the application is not complete without new and relevant evidence or a request that VA gather it.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/decision-reviews/supplemental-claim/
Step 3: Gather or identify the evidence
Collect documents that could change the decision, and list evidence you want VA to request: give the name of the VA medical center, federal facility or private provider and the treatment dates. For private records, submit VA Form 21-4142 (online or on paper). For a presumptive condition under a new law, submit or identify medical evidence of the diagnosis and its severity; you do not need to prove the cause if you meet the service requirement for the presumption.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/find-forms/about-form-21-4142/
Step 4: File VA Form 20-0995
For a disability compensation claim you can file online at VA.gov. For any benefit, download VA Form 20-0995 and mail it with your evidence to the address for that benefit: disability compensation — Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547; pension and survivor benefits — Claims Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547; life insurance — Attention: Insurance Center, PO Box 5209, Janesville, WI 53547; VA health care enrollment and community care — Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547; Foreign Medical Program and CHAMPVA — VHA Office of Integrated Veteran Care, Appeals, PO Box 600, Spring City, PA 19475; Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers — Evidence Intake Center, PO Box 5154, Janesville, WI 53547. Claims not related to health care can also be filed in person at a VA regional office, and a VSO can file for you.
Reference: https://www.va.gov/decision-reviews/supplemental-claim/
Step 5: What happens next, and the effective-date rule
VA requests the records you identified, may schedule a claim exam, and issues a new decision; track it at VA.gov/claim-or-appeal-status. If you file within one year of the decision you disagree with, the claim is continuously pursued and a grant pays from the original effective date; after a year, the effective date is generally the date of the Supplemental Claim. If the new decision still goes against you, you have one year from it to file another Supplemental Claim with more evidence, a Higher-Level Review or a Board Appeal.
Critical tips
- There is no limit on how many Supplemental Claims you can file, and you can file one after a Higher-Level Review or Board decision.
- If the court or Board denied the same issue, the one-year clock to keep the effective date runs from that decision.
- VA does not publish a fixed decision time for Supplemental Claims; it posts current averages on VA.gov.
- Questions: VA benefits line 800-827-1000 (TTY 711), Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. ET.
- A county veterans service officer can prepare and file the form with you for free: warriorsfund.org/find-cvso.
- In crisis: dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255.