Total Disability Individual Unemployability—with the acronym TDIU—is part of the VA’s disability compensation program. If your service-connected disabilities prevent you from being able to get and keep a job, TDIU allows your to have your disability rating raised to 100 percent even though the rating on your disabilities do not equal 100 percent. Unemployability is the VA’s way of acknowledging that some veterans with disability ratings below 100 are unable to work due to their impairments. TDIU can provide a substantial financial benefit for those whose schedular ratings do not combine to 100%.
In order to qualify for TDIU you must have: One service-connected condition rated at 60% or higher; or two or more service-connected conditions, one of which is rated at least 40% disabling, with a combined disability rating of at least 70%. It is critically important to know that if you have multiple service-connected conditions, there are five ways your conditions can be combined to reach the qualifying percentages for TDIU benefits.
The first way is if you have a disability of one or both of your upper extremities, or one or both of your lower extremities, those disabilities can be combined into one rating in order to reach the qualifying threshold.
A second way you can qualify for TDIU is if your disabilities stem from single accident or a common cause. For example, multiple disabilities incurred from a single explosion during military service can be combined into one rating.
The next way to qualify is in a situation where you have several disabilities that affect a single body system. For example, you may be suffering from several conditions and each one has an impact on your respiratory system. Those conditions can be combined into one rating.
The fifth and final method for combining conditions impacts those veterans who have been prisoners of war. Former POWs who incurred multiple disabilities during their time in captivity may combine those disabilities into one rating.
It is not uncommon for TDIU claims to be denied. If your claim for TDIU was denied, you have the right to appeal and you have the right to have an attorney represent you. The VA accredited attorneys at Cuddigan Law can help you gather the necessary evidence, get the proper diagnosis, establish the critically important service-connections, and present the strongest possible case to the VA. Call or email us for a free evaluation of your situation.
