Legal Question in Veterans Law in Alaska

I recently recieved 100% status for PTSD and Diabetes (Agent Orange). my question is after fighting for years with my claim they said the effective dates for retro pay was always the NOD reply. Is that correct being as my condition never changed from my first filing but it took them that long to finally accept my claim as a functional claim.So does my retro go back to oringinal file date or the last denial of their findings ?


Asked on 8/24/11, 1:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jill Mitchell-Thein Heard & Smith, LLP

The effective date is usually supposed to be the date the VA received the claim that led to the award. If you ever let a claim lapse and didn't appeal it, you cannot use that as the effective date. I have never heard of an effective date having anything to do with an "NOD reply" or any denial date. If there is a big discrepancy between the effective date they assigned and the date of the live pending claim, you should appeal the decision and ask them to verify the effective date. Good luck, and feel free to email me directly with any questions at [email protected]

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Answered on 8/25/11, 11:18 am


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