AI Claim Helper

Gemini Claim Language Coach

Type what you want to tell VA in your own words. Gemini will help you rewrite it using VA-friendly “power words” and clear language. You stay honest — the AI just helps you say it in a way the VA understands better.

Important: This tool is for educational assistance only and does not replace an accredited VSO, claims agent, or attorney. Always review and edit the AI output to make sure it is 100% true for you before you sign or submit anything to VA.

What are you trying to do with this language?

This helps the AI aim its wording in the right direction.

Describe your situation in your own words

Don’t include full SSN or super-sensitive personal info. You can describe events, symptoms, and how your daily life and work are affected.

What should the AI emphasize?

Legal / CFR wording Medical impact Everyday life / Lay evidence

Something went wrong calling the AI. Check your Gemini backend.

Hint: If the AI misses something important, add more detail to your description and run it again. Be specific about dates, locations, symptoms, and how your life is impacted.

AI-Suggested VA Claim Language

Your Gemini-generated claim language will appear here. You can copy and paste it into a personal statement, lay statement, or appeal letter and then edit it so it matches your truth.

Copied!

Always read the text carefully and adjust it so it accurately reflects your own experience and records.

Power Words & Phrases Glossary

This glossary shows key VA claim language in simple terms. Gemini’s wording coach above is designed to pull from the same idea: clear, honest statements that use the phrases VA looks for.

ABCDEFG HIJKLMN OPQRSTU VWXYZ (Alphabetical claim-language reference)

Aggravated by (Aggravation): Legal Used when a service-connected condition makes another condition permanently worse, beyond its natural progress.
Example phrase: “My diabetes, which is service-connected, has aggravated my peripheral neuropathy beyond its natural progression.”

Tip: Aggravation can apply to physical and mental health conditions.
At least as likely as not: Legal Standard of proof for service connection. Means 50% or greater probability that your condition is related to service.
Example phrase (for doctors or opinions): “It is at least as likely as not (50% or greater probability) that the veteran’s condition began in or is related to military service.”
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Medical Basic daily tasks like bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding, and ambulating.
Example phrase: “Because of my service-connected conditions, I need help with several activities of daily living, including bathing and dressing.”

Baseline level of disability: Legal The severity of a condition before it was worsened by a service-connected disability.
Example phrase: “My back pain had a mild baseline level before service, but it significantly worsened after repeated heavy lifting while deployed.”
Benefit of the doubt: Legal When evidence is about equal for and against, VA must decide in favor of the veteran.
Example phrase: “The evidence is at least in relative balance, so the benefit of the doubt should be resolved in favor of the veteran.”
Buddy statement (Lay statement): Lay A written statement from a friend, family member, or fellow service member describing what they saw and know about your condition.
Example phrase: “This buddy statement confirms that my symptoms started in service and have continued since separation.”

Caused by: Legal Directly links a disability to an event or condition (often used for secondary conditions).
Example phrase: “My sleep apnea is caused by my service-connected PTSD due to chronic sleep disturbance and weight gain from medications.”
Chronic: Medical Long-lasting, ongoing condition as opposed to a temporary or acute problem.
Example phrase: “I have experienced chronic low back pain since my deployment in 2009.”
Continuity of symptoms: Legal Symptoms that started in service and have continued without long gaps to the present.
Example phrase: “There has been a clear continuity of symptoms from my time in service to today.”

Due to / Result of: Legal Connects your disability directly to a service-connected condition or in-service event.
Example phrase: “My depression is due to / the result of my chronic service-connected knee pain and resulting loss of mobility.”
Duty limitations / work restrictions: Medical Terms used by doctors/employers to describe limits on what you can safely do at work.
Example phrase: “Because of my conditions, I have permanent duty limitations, including no prolonged standing or lifting over 10 pounds.”

Favorable finding: Legal A fact the VA has already accepted as true in a prior decision.
Example phrase: “The prior rating decision made a favorable finding that my condition began in service. I am only disputing the evaluation percentage.”
Flare-ups: Medical Periods when your condition suddenly gets worse, often with more pain or limitation.
Example phrase: “I experience frequent flare-ups of knee pain, during which I cannot walk more than a few steps.”
Functional loss: Medical How your condition reduces your ability to use a body part or perform activities.
Example phrase: “My shoulder condition causes significant functional loss when reaching overhead or lifting.”

Impairment in occupational and social functioning: Medical Used in mental health ratings to describe how symptoms affect work and relationships.
Example phrase: “My PTSD causes impairment in occupational and social functioning with reduced reliability and productivity.”
Increase in severity / Worsened: Legal Language for an increased rating claim when an already service-connected condition got worse.
Example phrase: “Since my last rating decision, my migraines have increased in severity and are now prostrating several times per month.”

Lay evidence / Lay observation: Lay Non-medical evidence from you or others describing what you see, feel, or experience.
Example phrase: “My statement is lay evidence describing how my back pain limits my daily activities.”

More likely than not: Legal Stronger than “at least as likely as not.” Means greater than 50% probability.
Example phrase (for a medical opinion): “It is more likely than not that the veteran’s current condition is related to documented injuries in service.”
Marked interference with employment: Strategy Phrase used when a disability causes serious work problems, missed time, or job loss.
Example phrase: “My service-connected conditions cause marked interference with employment, including frequent absences and reduced productivity.”

Nexus: Legal The link between your current disability and your military service (or another service-connected disability).
Example phrase: “This medical opinion provides the nexus between my current condition and in-service exposures.”

Permanent and total (P&T): Legal A rating that indicates your disabilities are both permanent and rated at 100% overall.
Example phrase: “The medical evidence shows my conditions are permanent and total with no expected improvement.”
Presumptive: Legal Conditions the VA presumes are related to certain types of service or exposures (e.g., Agent Orange, burn pits).
Example phrase: “My condition is listed as a presumptive disability based on my qualifying service and toxic exposure.”

Reasonable doubt: Legal A doubt that exists after considering all the evidence; by law it should be resolved in favor of the veteran.
Example phrase: “Any reasonable doubt should be resolved in favor of the veteran under VA regulations.”
Residuals: Medical Ongoing problems that remain after an injury or illness, such as scars, weakness, or chronic pain.
Example phrase: “I continue to suffer from residuals of my in-service knee injury, including instability and chronic swelling.”

Secondary to: Legal Describes a condition that is caused or worsened by a service-connected disability.
Example phrase: “My hypertension is secondary to my service-connected kidney disease.”
Service connection: Legal The legal link that a condition was caused or worsened by military service.
Example phrase: “The evidence supports service connection for my hearing loss due to documented noise exposure.”
Severe / Moderate / Mild: Medical Terms the VA often uses to rate how intense or limiting your symptoms are.
Example phrase: “I experience severe panic attacks several times per week that limit my ability to leave the house.”

Total occupational and social impairment: Medical Language tied to 100% mental health ratings when symptoms prevent almost all work and meaningful social relationships.
Example phrase: “My symptoms cause total occupational and social impairment, and I am unable to maintain employment or stable relationships.”

Unemployable / Unable to maintain substantially gainful employment: Legal Language related to Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
Example phrase: “Due to my service-connected conditions, I am unable to maintain substantially gainful employment.”

Vocational impact: Strategy How your disabilities affect the type of work you can do, your hours, reliability, and income.
Example phrase: “The vocational impact of my conditions includes frequent absences, difficulty concentrating, and inability to perform physical labor.”