Read the reasons in plain English, find what’s already in your file, draft what’s missing. You file it yourself, or with a free VSO.
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Reasons for decision
Service connection for lumbar strain is denied since this condition neither occurred in nor was caused by service.
In plain English: The VA has your diagnosis. Nothing on file shows the injury happened in service, or links it to service.
Service connection means the evidence shows your condition began in, or was caused by, your service. In practice the VA looks for three things, and a service-connection denial usually means one of them wasn’t on file. The Decision Letter Analyzer reads your letter and tells you which.
Decision Letter Analyzer
01
When it’s missing, the letter says
“The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability.”
Example wording
In plain English: The VA needs a diagnosis from a medical professional, not only a description of symptoms.
What you file
It is often already on paper. The C-File Analyzer reads every page of your file and cites the page where each condition is diagnosed. Private records the VA never saw go in on VA Form 21-4142.
02
When it’s missing, the letter says
“Your service treatment records do not show an injury or event in service.”
Example wording
In plain English: Nothing in the record places the injury, illness or exposure inside your time in service.
What you file
Your own account is evidence. Write what happened on VA Form 21-4138 (21-0781 for PTSD), and ask someone who was there for a buddy statement on VA Form 21-10210. Six searches your records for in-service treatment you may have forgotten.
03
When it’s missing, the letter says
“There is no medical evidence linking your condition to your service.”
Example wording
In plain English: A medical opinion has to say your condition is at least as likely as not connected to service.
What you file
A nexus letter makes the link. We draft it from published medical research, with a citation behind every line, and your own clinician reviews, edits and signs it. If a service-connected condition caused this one, the same letter argues it as secondary.
In a real session: asked to connect migraines to service-connected PTSD, Six plans the secondary claim, searches the record for each piece, and asks for what only the veteran knows.
Veteran
Connect my migraines as secondary to my PTSD.
Six
1 searchYou picked secondary to PTSD. Let me set that up.
Question 1 of 3
What is the earliest date you can remember having migraines?
Got it — migraines will be filed as secondary to your service-connected PTSD. There are a few follow-up questions on your screen to help complete the record. Answer what you can when you're ready.
Six can make mistakes — verify important claim details.
Not sure which row your letter means? Ask Six. It cites the section it relied on.
New and relevant evidence goes to the VA on Form 20-0995, a Supplemental Claim. File it within a year of the decision and your original effective date holds.
VeteranAI prepares evidence. It isn’t accredited, doesn’t file, and never contacts the VA for you, so the first line on this sheet is the free one.
Marcus’s missing piece was the link: three secondary conditions he didn’t know were connected, each with a nexus letter.
“Had been sitting at 30% for almost a decade because I didn't think I could claim anything else. I used VeteranAI to identify secondary conditions I didn't even realize were connected. Filed for three secondaries with nexus letters generated through the platform and was granted all three. 30% to 80% just like that.”
“Needed buddy statements from three of my old squad members and none of them knew what to write. Ran them through VeteranAI and we had solid, detailed statements in under an hour. All three were accepted by the VA without any issues.”
Reviews are from verified account holders. Read more reviews →
Built by a veteran
Dennis Spohn
Founder, VeteranAI. US Navy submarine veteran: enlisted, then nuclear engineer.
“I knew too many veterans who never filed, because filing meant reliving their trauma. I built VeteranAI to make that easier and private: you work through it at your own pace, and nothing goes to the VA until you decide to file.”
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AI-powered self-service software for veterans filing their own VA disability claims. 75,000+ veterans use it to write their own personal statements, request buddy statements, get a cited nexus letter drafted for their own doctor to review and sign, and read their C-File in plain English.
Yes. We're a veteran-owned company founded by a Navy submarine veteran. 75,000+ veterans have used the software since 2024, and it's rated 4.8 out of 5 across 32 reviews from verified account holders. Flat pricing, no hidden fees, and we never take a percentage of your back pay. We're also upfront about what AI can and can't do, and we recommend working with a free accredited VSO for guidance on your particular claim.
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We argue every draft from published medical research — PubMed and NIH literature — rather than a template. Where we can't find sound sources connecting a condition to a given exposure or event, we'd rather show you nothing than invent something. An empty result isn't a verdict on your claim; it means the literature search came up short, and that's a question for your clinician.
Email team@veteranai.co and a real person answers — no sales calls. Support helps you use the software; for guidance on your particular claim, that's what a free accredited VSO is there for.
Three rows stand between a denial and a claim you can file. Start with the one your letter names.
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Reasons for decision
Service connection for lumbar strain is denied since this condition neither occurred in nor was caused by service.
In plain English: The VA has your diagnosis. Nothing on file shows the injury happened in service, or links it to service.
