Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU), or more commonly known as Individual Unemployability, stands as a critical avenue for Veterans who served their country and now find themselves unable to secure substantial gainful employment due to the severity of their service-connected disabilities. In this article, we will explore the eligibility criteria for Individual Unemployability (IU).
Under the VA rating schedule, the highest grade of disability is 100 percent, which means the Veteran is considered totally disabled.
TDIU is an entitlement that may be assigned where a Veteran who fails to meet the criteria for a 100 percent schedular disability rating is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation based upon the severity and functional impairment of their service-connected conditions.
To qualify for schedular TDIU, the veteran must satisfy two requirements:
- The veteran’s service-connected disabilities must satisfy certain percentage requirements; and
- If the veteran meets the percentage requirements, the evidence of record must demonstrate the veteran is prevented from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
As to the percentage requirements, the veteran must demonstrate either of the following:
- A service-connected disability must be rated at 60 percent or more; or
- If the veteran has more than one service-connected disability, at least one disability must be rated at 40 percent and the combined disability rating must be 70 percent or more.
If the veteran does not meet the percentage requirements under the rating schedule, a veteran may still be awarded TDIU on an extraschedular basis. Extraschedular is defined as a special rating assigned when the standard VA schedule does not adequately compensate a veteran for unique, exceptional, or severe disability manifestations that cause marked interference with employment or frequent hospitalization.
If the veteran meets the percentage requirements, VA will review all the relevant evidence submitted to determine whether the veteran is “in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as the result of service-connected disabilities.”
Generally, when a veteran applies for TDIU, a VA rating officer will make the initial determination. As part of the adjudication process, veterans may be required to undergo a VA medical examination, wherein a C&P examiner will provide an opinion as to the vocational impact of the severity of the service-connected conditions.
In our experience, VA rating officers will make their determination solely on the basis of this examination and opinion. Veterans are routinely denied TDIU based upon these VA medical opinions.
If you have applied for TDIU and have been denied entitlement, contact our team of experts at Wolf & Brown for help in securing your entitlement.
By Matthew J. Brown, Esq. VA-accredited attorney and partner at Wolf & Brown Law Offices