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Qualifying Thresholds for Schedular & Extra-Schedular TDIU

To qualify for Schedular TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a), your service-connected disabilities must prevent you from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment, and meet one of two percentage thresholds:

• Single Disability Criterion: You have one service-connected disability rated at 60% or higher.
• Combined Disability Criterion: You have a combined rating of 70% or higher, with at least one individual service-connected condition rated at 40% or higher.

Extra-Schedular TDIU (38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b))

If your disabilities prevent you from working but you do not meet the percentage thresholds above, you can still apply for Extra-Schedular TDIU. These complex claims require submitting extraordinary medical and vocational evidence to the Director of Compensation Service.

These are not the only circumstances under which you may qualify for TDIU. You may qualify if any of your service-connected disabilities keep you from being able to maintain gainful employment regardless of your disability rating. It’s important to speak to a TDIU lawyer as soon as possible.

There are many complicated factors that go into winning a TDIU claim. It is very important that you be aware of these factors and if you need assistance, call our office at 1-888-878-9350 to learn more about how our attorneys can help you get veterans disability benefits.

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Not all Levels of Impairment Are Created Equal

With a TDIU analysis, the VA looks at your particular circumstances to determine how the disabilities affect your ability to work. A TDIU disability benefits claim is more subjective than a regular disability benefits claim based solely on a rating schedule meaning there is more room for interpretation in a TDIU disability claim. It is very important that you analyze your individual work and educational factors to determine whether or not your service-connected disabilities make you incapable of working.

The VA does NOT base it’s decision on the average person’s ability to work. Instead, they work from the assumption that each Veteran is unique and your individual skills, work history and education should be considered in determining your ability to work. For example, if you were a concert pianist and you played the piano professionally, and you suffered an amputation of several fingers, this would clearly render you incapable of maintaining your occupation. On the other hand, if you were a truck driver, you could probably still work if you lost a few fingers. In other words, what makes one Veteran totally disabled may not be the same thing that makes another Veteran totally disabled. It all depends on your individual circumstances.

When Should I Apply for TDIU?

When you cannot maintain steady employment.

TDIU indicates a level of employability that is less than 100 percent. In practical terms, if you have a combined disability rating of 70 percent with at least one disability rated at 40 percent and these disabilities make it impossible for you to keep a job, then you would be well advised to seek total disability individual unemployability.

Keep in mind that the higher you are on the combined rating scale, the less difference adding additional smaller disabilities to your service-connected list of disabilities will make in your combined rating. Also keep in mind that if you are rated at 60 percent for one disability alone and this disability makes it impossible for you to keep a job, then you should also consider filing a claim for total disability.

When your disabilities make it impossible for you to earn more than the poverty limit.

TDIU does not require you to be incapable of doing any type of work but you must be unable to maintain gainful employment. Marginal employment is generally not considered to be gainful employment and it should not prevent you from getting a rating of total disability individual unemployability. Marginal employment is generally defined as earned annual income that does not exceed the federal poverty threshold for a single individual. Under precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC), a ‘substantially gainful occupation’ means employment that provides a veteran with income above this poverty baseline. Working part-time or earning below the federal poverty line does not automatically disqualify you from receiving TDIU benefits.

When any service-connected disability meets the TDIU minimum requirements.

There are times when you have a claim and you may not even be aware of it. There is automatically an implied claim for total disability when a claim for an increased rating meets the minimum requirements for total disability and the disabilities are service connected. In other words, if you were granted service-connection for a disability rated at 60 percent disabling by itself and the evidence before the VA also shows that this disability renders you incapable of working, then I recommend that you apply for total disability.

How Our TDIU Lawyers Prove Your Unemployability Claim

Proving a TDIU claim requires showing that your service-connected conditions—and only your service-connected conditions—render you unable to secure substantially gainful employment. The VA routinely denies TDIU claims by citing non-service-connected health issues, age, or educational factors.

At Gang & Associates, our TDIU attorneys overcome these obstacles using a multidisciplinary approach:

• Vocational Expert Evaluations: We collaborate with professional vocational experts to conduct comprehensive labor market analyses, proving your physical or mental limitations prevent gainful work.
• In-House Medical Review & IMOs: Our dedicated in-house medical doctor and external medical specialists review your records to craft persuasive nexus opinions.
• Isolating Service-Connected Impairments: We construct legal and factual arguments that separate service-connected conditions from non-service-connected factors, meeting strict CAVC standards.

If you are in a situation where your service-connected disabilities make it impossible for you to keep a job, then I strongly urge you to contact our office to discuss the ways in which a TDIU lawyer at our law firm may be able to help you win veterans disability benefits.

Types of Cases

• Accrued Benefits
• Anxiety
• Burn Pits
• Camp Lejeune
• Cancer
• Death Benefits or DIC
• Defense Contractor Whistleblowers
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Agent Orange and Other Herbicides
• Gastrointestinal Problems
• Gulf War Syndrome
• Gulf War Veterans with Chronic Disabilities
• Heart Disabilities and Other Cardiovascular Conditions
• Migraines
• Mental Health
• Military Sexual Trauma
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome
• Orthopedic Claims
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Psychiatric Disability
• Schizophrenia
• Serious Neurological Disorders and Organic Brain Syndrome
• Skin Diseases
• Sleep Apnea / Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
• Spinal Cord and Back Injuries
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• VA Medical Malpractice