Veteran designed · independently built

Built by a Veteran, for Veterans

VetComp Planner is an independently developed VA disability calculator, evidence organizer, and benefits guide created from firsthand experience navigating the VA disability process.

Independently designed and built by one Veteran. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Founder story

Why I built this resource

My name is Michael Kondracki. I’m a United States Marine Corps veteran and former M1A1 Abrams tank crewman.

When I began working through my own VA disability claims, I quickly realized how difficult it could be to see the full picture. The information I needed was spread across VA webpages, federal regulations, compensation tables, rating criteria, claim forms, state websites, and benefit guides.

Understanding how VA percentages combine was one challenge. Understanding the evidence needed for a condition, the difference between direct and secondary service connection, Special Monthly Compensation, Permanent and Total status, and the benefits connected to different ratings required even more research.

I found myself opening page after page and piecing the information together just to better understand my own claims and what to expect from the process. I built this application because I wanted to create the resource I wish I had.

This is not a government application or a product created by a large claims company. It is an independently designed application created by one Veteran who has personally experienced the confusion, uncertainty, appointments, evidence gathering, calculations, and waiting that can come with the VA disability process.

My hope is that this calculator and guide can make the process easier to understand, help you organize the information connected to your conditions, and help you arrive better prepared for what may come next.

The application cannot promise an outcome or make the VA’s decision. What it can do is help you understand the math, review official criteria, identify possible evidence gaps, explore benefits, and pursue the rating and benefits supported by your service-connected conditions and evidence.

You should not have to become an expert in VA math just to understand your own disability rating.

The founder’s personal experience influenced the design of this application, but every Veteran’s claim is different.

“I built the resource I wish I had when I started navigating my own VA disability claims.”

Michael KondrackiFounder and U.S. Marine Corps Veteran
Mission

Our mission is to make VA disability information easier to understand without oversimplifying it or pretending that a calculator can make the VA’s decision.

Veterans should be able to see how their ratings combine, understand what evidence may support each part of a claim, learn the difference between claim theories, and find official benefit information without searching across dozens of disconnected websites.

Purpose

What this application is designed to do

The app helps organize and explain the information you enter.

  • Calculate current and hypothetical combined VA ratings
  • Explain each step of VA rating math
  • Apply the bilateral factor when the entered information supports it
  • Estimate compensation using reviewed rate data
  • Explain Special Monthly Compensation codes
  • Organize claim evidence without uploading documents
  • Identify which service-connection elements have supporting evidence entered
  • Distinguish direct and secondary claim theories
  • Organize evidence related to rating severity
  • Explore reviewed federal and state benefits
  • Explain 100%, TDIU, temporary 100%, and P&T as separate statuses
  • Link users to official sources
  • Store planning information locally on the user’s device
Boundaries

What this application cannot do

The Department of Veterans Affairs makes official rating and eligibility decisions based on the complete record and the rules that apply to each individual case.

  • Make an official VA rating or service-connection decision
  • Diagnose a medical condition or judge evidence credibility
  • Determine eligibility for SMC or P&T status
  • Guarantee a compensation amount or claim outcome
  • Submit a claim or upload and review medical documents
  • Replace a C&P examination or VA-accredited representative
  • Replace an attorney or medical professional
  • Tell a Veteran which symptoms to report
  • Encourage exaggeration, omission, or unsupported claims
  • Provide legal or medical advice
How the app is built

Guiding principles

Trust comes from showing the work, citing the source, and stating the limits clearly.

01

Veteran Designed

Created from firsthand experience navigating the VA disability process.

02

Transparent Math

Every combined-rating result should show how the calculation was performed.

03

Official Sources

VA regulations, official rate tables, and government sources should support factual guidance.

04

Privacy First

The app should collect only the information needed for planning and should not request sensitive claim documents.

05

Honest Limitations

A useful planning tool should explain what it does not know instead of presenting guesses as official answers.

Sources and methodology

Review the basis for the result

Combined-rating math, bilateral-factor handling, compensation rates, condition criteria, SMC explanations, and benefit records link back to reviewed official sources and display review metadata.

Review methodology and official sources
Privacy commitment

Plan without uploading claim documents

Scenarios, Claim Files, and benefit-tracker entries remain in local storage on the device. VetComp Planner does not request a Social Security number, VA claim number, medical-document upload, GPS location, or public profile.

Read the privacy model
Independent development disclosure

Independently designed and developed by one Veteran

VetComp Planner is independently designed and developed by one Veteran. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, maintained by, or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, or any military service branch.

The founder is sharing personal experience through the design of this educational tool and is not acting as a VA-accredited representative, attorney, or medical professional.

Personal experience can help identify common sources of confusion, but one Veteran’s experience does not establish how VA will decide another Veteran’s claim. Every claim depends on its own facts, evidence, examinations, applicable regulations, and VA findings.

Begin when you are ready

Start with a clearer picture

Calculate your current rating, explore a hypothetical claim, organize your evidence, or review benefits associated with your state and status.

Open CalculatorOpen Claim PlannerExplore BenefitsRead the FAQReport a problem or suggest an improvement
Official help resources

Individual circumstances deserve individual assistance

VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization representatives, accredited claims agents, and accredited attorneys can provide individualized claim assistance. Verify accreditation through the official VA directory.

Find accredited help