Don't skip this Step Zero - file your Intent to File TODAY This is the most important 5 minutes of the entire process. Your back-pay clock does not start until the VA has an Intent to File - every week without one is money gone forever. At the 100% rate, waiting just one month costs $3,939 that can never be recovered. File it now, then come back and build the claim at your own pace.
What do I actually put on it? (Easier than you think) You do NOT list any conditions or disabilities on this form. It's a placeholder that locks the date - not the claim itself.One Intent to File covers every condition you file within the next 12 months - big ones, small ones, and ones this scan hasn't discovered yet. There is no strategy to get wrong here. Just select "Compensation" as the benefit type, fill in identifying info (name, SSN, contact), and submit. Do it online - no download, no printing, no mailing. The VA's online tool (linked below) submits it in a few minutes. Prefer not to? Call 800-827-1000 instead. Paper Form 21-0966 exists but is the slowest path.Submit your Intent to File online now (VA.gov) → Seriously - don't skip this. Do it right now. It takes about five minutes, and it's the best-paid five minutes of the entire process.
Already filed it? Start one more slow clock: records requests take the VA weeks to months, so order your records now. And if the VA has rated you before, request your full claims file (C-file) too - it shows exactly what the VA looked at last time.
Then keep going here - My Claims walks both in detail later.