How to Get a Copy of Your C&P Exam Report

Nicholas Briggs: Welcome to CCK Live Under 5:00. I’m Nicholas Briggs, an accredited claims agent here at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick. And today, I’m going to share how veterans can get a copy of their compensation and pension examination reports.

So, C&P exams, compensation and pension exams, are medical examinations of a veteran’s disability performed by a VA healthcare professional or a VA-contracted provider. VA uses these C&P exams to gather more evidence on a veteran’s claimed condition before issuing a decision and assigning a rating if the condition’s granted.

With that in mind, C&P exams are used for both confirming or denying service connection or establishing the severity of a veteran’s condition. Once your VA compensation and pension examination is complete, the examiner will write up a report, include a review of the exam’s findings, any clinical test results, and any relevant medical literature they may have reviewed to determine the etiology of your condition.

In order to request a copy of your compensation and pension exam, it’s important to know upfront that the VA examiner is not going to give you a copy once the exam is over. It’s something that they still need to write up and submit to VA. But once the examination has concluded and the report is with VA’s possession, you can request a copy directly from them. With that in mind, after you’ve received your decision, you’re entitled to and you should request a copy of the exam.

To get a copy of the final report, you can either contact your local VA Regional Office, call VA and request an appointment to review your file, or if you are represented by a service organization or an attorney, you can ask your representative to acquire a copy of that examination for you.

The reason this is important is because, like we talked about earlier, VA decision makers often place significant weight on these VA examinations. It is going to be the deciding factor in whether or not there’s a medical nexus in the case of service connection. And when they’re trying to determine how severe your condition is, they’re going to use the findings of the exam to weigh it against VA’s schedule for rating disabilities.

With that in mind, it’s important for you to review the exam, determine if the results are favorable, and ensure that the exam was filled out completely and thoroughly. And that, as far as you are concerned, it reflects the most accurate information possible.

For more information regarding compensation and pension exams, including tips to make the most of your exam and common mistakes to avoid, please feel free to visit our blog. And you can also be sure to check out our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel as we cover this topic very frequently, considering its importance. Thank you all for watching.