Your C&P exam, demystified

What it is

C&P stands for Compensation & Pension. It's an exam VA orders after you file a disability claim, to get current medical evidence on the conditions you're claiming — this app can document your service and your exposures, but it can't examine you, and VA needs an examiner's findings before a rater can decide your claim.

Who actually examines you

Usually not your own doctor. VA schedules these through a contracted network of examiners — companies like QTC, Optum Serve (formerly LHI), or VES show up most often on the scheduling letter — or sometimes directly through a VA medical center. That's normal, not a sign something's wrong. The exam can be in person or by video (telehealth), depending on what VA scheduled.

What the exam actually is

The examiner works through a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ)— a structured form specific to your condition (there are DBQs for TBI, hearing, mental health, joints, and dozens more). They ask about your symptoms, review what's in your file, and often do a physical or psychological exam. Their job is to answer VA's specific medical questions — not to decide your rating. That decision is made later, by a rater, using the DBQ along with everything else in your file.

The clinician hand-off sheet in your claim packetasks almost the same kind of question a DBQ does — that's deliberate.

How to prepare

• • Bring or reference your claim packet — it lays out what you're claiming and why, in one place.
• • Describe your worst days, not your best ones. A lot of veterans undersell themselves trying to be tough or polite — this exam is not the place for that.
• • Be specific about what the condition actually stops you from doing, not just that it hurts. “I can't kneel to work on my truck anymore” says more than “my knee hurts.”
• • Answer only what's asked, honestly. Guessing, minimizing, or exaggerating both cut against you the same way.
• • If it's a video exam, treat it like the real thing — good lighting, a quiet room, and enough time set aside.

If you can't make it

Reschedule through VA — call the number on your letter or use VA.gov — as early as you can, and keep a record that you asked. Missing a scheduled exam without a good reason can result in your claim being decided on the evidence already in your file, or denied outright (38 CFR §3.326, §3.655). This app can't schedule or reschedule anything for you.

After the exam

The examiner's findings go into your file. You typically don't see the report itself right away, and the examiner doesn't tell you the outcome at the appointment — a rater decides later, using the DBQ along with your service record and everything else you've submitted. If your claim is later denied, this app has a page for what to do next →.