Find Out What Evidence Wins VA Claims
This free brief shows which evidence tracked with the VA claims that won and the ones that were denied. It uses Claim Raven's reading of 511,036 Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions from 2021 to 2026, counted by ruling: one issue the Board decided in one decision, 1,378,030 in all. It covers what a medical opinion is worth, what your own statement can and cannot do, and why so many claims come back for another exam. The numbers are on this page, and you can have a link to it sent to your email.
The Medical Opinion the Board Relies On Carries the Ruling
On the service connection rulings the Board granted or denied, the medical opinion it relied on carried the result. When it relied on a favorable opinion, it granted 99.2 percent of 85,224 rulings. When it relied on an opinion against the claim, it granted 0.7 percent of 90,385. With no medical opinion to weigh, it granted 27.1 percent of 74,345. The Board relied on an opinion against the claim more often than on a favorable one. Filing a condition as secondary is not a shortcut: on secondary claims the Board granted 99.4 percent of 32,973 rulings when it relied on a favorable opinion and 1 percent of 22,904 when it relied on an opinion against the claim.
Most Remands Turn on the Medical Exam
The Board sent 366,114 service connection rulings back to VA from 2021 to 2026. It named an inadequate medical exam in 203,566 of them, 55.6 percent, and an exam VA had not yet given in 94,204, 25.7 percent. If your claim comes back for a new exam, that is the system catching a problem with the exam, not a judgment about your condition.
Your Own Statement Counts, Within Limits
When the Board found a veteran's lay evidence credible (personal statements, buddy letters, testimony), it granted 89.1 percent of 104,942 rulings. When it found the lay evidence not credible, it granted 2.1 percent of 15,107. A credible statement does not replace a medical link: where the Board found the statements credible but relied on an opinion against the claim, it granted 19.9 percent of 1,012 rulings.
How to Read These Numbers
These are associations, not causes. The medical opinion and lay evidence figures describe what the Board relied on in rulings it granted or denied, so they show what carried a ruling, not your odds. They describe Board outcomes on appealed claims, not initial claims, so a veteran filing a first claim is not in this population. Across every ruling the Board decided, it granted 24.7 percent, denied 30 percent and sent 45.3 percent back to VA; granted includes partial grants, and dismissed or withdrawn rulings are counted separately. Claim Raven is data analysis, not legal, medical, or VA-accredited advice.
Common questions
What does the evidence brief cost?
Nothing. It is free and no account is required. The numbers are on this page. Give an email address and a link to it comes to your inbox, followed by three short emails over nine days.
Where does the data come from?
Claim Raven holds 1,871,000+ Board decisions. This brief uses the 511,036 from 2021 to 2026 that Claim Raven read in depth: 1,378,030 rulings, of which 1,241,238 were decided (granted, denied, or sent back to VA). One Board decision may rule on several issues, and each is counted separately. Board decisions are public records. Claim Raven analyzes them and publishes what the patterns show.
Is this specific to my condition?
Not yet. This brief reads every condition at once. Each condition's own Board figures are on its page at claimraven.com/conditions.
Does a remand mean I lost?
No. A remand is neither a loss nor a win: the Board sends the issue back because the record is not ready to decide. It sent 45.3 percent of the rulings it decided back to VA from 2021 to 2026. For service connection, the reason it named most often was an inadequate medical exam.