Question:
I am 66 years old and have a 70% disability rating with 20% on each leg, 10% on each arm and 10% for tinnitus. Do both legs count as one item to give me the 40% I would need to apply for Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability?. My legs have severe peripheral vascular disease and neuropathy due to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.
Jim's Reply:
No, we aren't allowed to pick and choose how we total up the different ratings. However, if you're unable to hold on to gainful employment because of the service connected disabling conditions you're rated for, you can apply for an extra-schedular TDIU rating. When you do this, the rater making the decision will give a review to see if your claim would merit the TDIU rating even though you may not meet the exact numbers required. This is as good an explanation of how this works as I know of here.