Getting an earlier effective date through unadjudicated claims

There are a few ways to get an earlier effective date for your claim.  One of the rules to establish an earlier effective date is if the VA never made a decision on a prior claim.

To illustrate the rule, consider a veteran makes a claim for compensation in 1990 and for whatever reason, the VA never does anything with the claim.  If the veteran files again in 1995 and is subsequently denied, then the claim is over if the veteran does not appeal the decision within one-year.  But what if the VA granted the second claim in 1995?

If the VA ignores the first claim and then subsequently grants the second claim for the SAME condition, then the effective date for the 1995 claim is 1990 in the above scenario.

The first question to ask is when did the veteran tell the VA in writing that they wanted compensation for their disabilities connected to their service?  Second, did the VA adjudicate the claim?  If not, then the date of the unadjudicated claim should be the proper effective date.

For questions about Earlier Effective Dates, (legal advertisement) contact the Moon Law Group today!