What is a C-File and why you need yours

Your Claim File (C-File) is the complete record VA has on you for benefits purposes. It contains your service treatment records (STRs), DD-214, prior C&P exam reports, prior decision letters, every piece of evidence you've ever submitted, and the rater's notes.

If you've never filed a claim, you don't have a C-File yet. If you have — you do, even if no one ever told you it exists.

You can request it through VA.gov, by mail using VA Form 20-10206, or through your representative. We pull the C-File on every case we take. Here's why it matters:

• VA can only decide on what's in the file. If a 1992 mental-health entry never made it into your STRs, the rater can't consider it — until you add it.
• VA's prior reasoning is in there. If you were denied in 2008 "no in-service event," the new evidence has to address that finding head-on, not just repeat the same theory.
• C&P exam reports are in there. If a prior exam was inadequate (no DBQ, wrong specialty, didn't address all symptoms), that's grounds for a new exam request.

Read it before you file new evidence. Filing blind is how reopened claims get the same denial twice.