Insider strategy
How to win a Higher-Level Review (and the informal conference)
A senior reviewer takes a fresh look at the record you already built. The move most veterans never make is the phone call where you point that reviewer straight at the error. Here is how it works.
You got denied, or you got a rating that is too low, and you know the evidence in your file already supports more. You do not have a new nexus letter or a fresh exam to add. You just have a decision that got the facts or the rules wrong. That is the exact situation a Higher-Level Review is built for.
A Higher-Level Review, or HLR, is a senior VA reviewer taking a fresh look at your existing record to find a clear error. No new evidence is allowed. And there is one step inside it that most veterans skip: you can request a phone call, called an informal conference, where you or your representative points the reviewer directly at what went wrong.
The short version
HLR is a do-over of the decision, not the evidence. A more senior reviewer reads the same file you already have and looks for an error in how the facts or the law were applied. When you file, ask for the informal conference. It is your one chance to tell that reviewer, in your own words, exactly where the mistake is.
What a Higher-Level Review actually is
When you file an HLR, a reviewer more senior than the one who made the first decision reads your claim from the top. Their job is narrow and specific: decide whether an error, or a difference of opinion, changes the outcome. They are not looking for new proof. They are checking whether the evidence already in your file was read correctly and whether the law was applied the right way.
Because no new evidence is allowed, the HLR lives or dies on what is already in the record. If your file supports a higher rating and the rater missed it, HLR is the fast lane to fix that. If your file is thin and you need more proof, HLR is the wrong tool, and we will cover why in a second.
You request it on VA Form 20-0996, the Decision Review Request for Higher-Level Review. For disability compensation you can file it online. You generally have one year from the date on your decision letter to choose a review lane, so check the date at the top of your letter before you do anything else.
When HLR is the right lane, and when it is not
After a decision you usually have three ways to challenge it: a Supplemental Claim, a Higher-Level Review, or an appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. Picking the right one is half the battle. The difference between HLR and a Supplemental Claim comes down to one question: do you have new evidence?
| Your situation | The right lane |
|---|---|
| The record already supports you and the rater got it wrong. | Higher-Level Review |
| You have new and relevant evidence to add, like a new exam or nexus letter. | Supplemental Claim |
| You want a Veterans Law Judge to hear the case. | Board appeal |
If you send new evidence with an HLR, the reviewer cannot consider it. So do not choose HLR because it feels faster and then try to sneak in a document. If you have something new, a Supplemental Claim is the lane that can actually use it.
The insider move: request the informal conference
Here is the part most veterans miss. When you file the HLR, there is a box to request an informal conference. It is optional, and skipping it is the most common unforced error in this whole process. Check it.
The informal conference is a phone call with the senior reviewer who will decide your case. It is not a formal hearing, and you still cannot add new evidence on the call. What you can do is talk. VA's own guidance is direct about it: "During this call, you or your representative should identify factual or legal errors with our decision on your claim." That is the whole point. You get to walk the decision-maker to the exact spot where the mistake lives, instead of hoping they find it on their own.
The reviewer will try to reach you to schedule it, usually with two attempts, so make sure the phone number on your form is one you actually answer. If you have a representative, they can take the call for you, and a good one often should.
How to prepare for the call
An informal conference rewards focus. You have the reviewer's attention for a short window, so do not narrate your whole service history. Do three things.
Name the specific error. Not "I disagree with the decision," but the precise mistake. For example: the rater said there was no in-service event, but your service records show one. Or the rater applied the wrong diagnostic code, or missed a symptom the criteria require.
Cite the finding in the record. Point to the page or document that proves your point. "The C&P exam on this date notes the exact symptom the 30 percent criteria require, and the decision rated it at 10." Concrete beats emotional every time on this call.
Name the rule. Tie the error to the standard it broke, in plain terms. The rating schedule for that condition, the specific criteria for the next level up, or the duty to assist. You do not need to sound like a lawyer. You need to be specific and stay on one or two points, not ten.
Write it down first
Before the call, put your error on a single page: what the decision says, what the record actually shows, and the rule that connects them. Read from it. A focused two-minute case lands harder than twenty minutes of frustration, and it keeps you from wandering off the point that wins.
The duty-to-assist error that can reopen everything
There is a second way HLR can help, and it is one to watch for. The VA has a legal duty to help you get the evidence for your claim, like ordering an exam or requesting your records. If the reviewer finds that the VA failed to do that, it is called a duty-to-assist error.
When a reviewer spots one, the effect is bigger than a simple yes or no. The VA has to go back, do the development it skipped, gather the missing evidence, and then issue a new decision on the fuller record. So an exam the VA never ordered, or records it never requested, can send your claim back for the work that should have happened the first time. If you believe the VA never got a required exam or a set of records, that is exactly the kind of thing to raise on the informal conference call.
Where to verify this yourself
You do not have to take our word for any of this. VA lays out the whole process, including the informal conference language quoted above, on the Higher-Level Review page at VA.gov, and the request form itself is VA Form 20-0996. Read the page before you file so you know which lane fits your situation, and if you are not sure, that decision is worth walking through with a free accredited representative.
Not sure if HLR is your lane?
Upload your decision letter and the VA Claims Copilot will read it back to you in plain English, flag whether the error is on the record or in the evidence, and help you see whether a Higher-Level Review or a Supplemental Claim fits your situation.
This is general education, not legal advice, and not from the VA. Your claim depends on your records, your evidence, and your exam. For advice on your specific situation, work with a free VA-accredited representative or a Veterans Service Organization. We are not the VA and are not affiliated with the VA.