Just got my appeal won but they reopened a denial from 2008-why

[Dave143mtg4life]

I just got my appeal for my smc won last week and my retro deposited. Right after that I checked ebenefits and it says open claims and it says new claim from 2008. I called ebenefits and it says it’s a new claim but it’s an internal new claim from a denial they gave me in 2008. How would they do that and why? I am already 100 percent and maxed out on my smc so why would they look at my denials from 2008 and why would they open a denied claim from that time without even telling me they were?  Does that mean it will be approved but that won’t change my money or anything.

[FormerMember]

It has nothing to do with SMC. In this day and age of .pdf OCR text recognition, they have algorithms they can run on a  VBMS claims file, VAMC CAPRI records and any of the correspondence---or other older ratings from 2008 in your case.  By law, they have to carefully and sympathetically develop a claim to its optimum if anything such as new evidence is submitted now (2018) that might be an "inferred claim" for an older claim. In that case, they file it for you. Once the evidence is in the file, if VA notices it, they can award you the disability but only on the day the evidence was associated with the claims file. Here we have active proof of VA now awarding you anything and everything finally that they screwed up and missed in the past. I find it interesting that this close inspection of our files only occurs when we can no longer benefit from it.  If it is added to your then-existing ratings, I'll bet $5 it will not yield any retro. It will be a paltry 10% or less. 

I recently had a client in almost exactly your situation- two different SMC Ls bumping him up into the R/T plateau. When my Vet got there, they showered him with inconsequential 10%s, 20%s and a 30% for dual incontinence and sagging facial muscles etc. etc. on top of R2. It's like getting five Purple Hearts. The extra oak leaf clusters look cool but they don't buy a bigger cup of coffee.  Personally, I like to roam around in really old VBMS records from the 60s and 70s. The VA thought they were a law unto themselves and hosed us Vietnam Vets on ratings. They are a goldmine waiting to be uncovered.

Edited June 8, 2018 by asknod

[Dave143mtg4life]

That makes sense. From 2007-2010 I was rated at 20 percent. Then went up to 100 percent. That denial was from 2008 so prob best I just wait to see what it says as long as it has nothing to do with the approval I just got from my two year appeal approval then I am good. I just know that they always say never put in more claims once you have what you need to get the medical attention you need for you disabilities and the amount to survive. I am not greedy. I have what I need for my care and the aid I need. That’s why I got worried when they opened up another claim from 2008 by themselves that’s all 

[Dave143mtg4life]

And you are absolutely correct. They keep giving me 100 percents like it means extra cash. I know the more service connection is better just Incase I die from it that it will help my wife but and I am not greedy with having smc RT but to go back to a claim from 2008 and have the manpower to open a claim to let’s say review it and let’s say grant it when there are thousands of veterans who are in desperate need of service connection is crazy. 

[Oceanbound]

Congrats!! I'm in the process of the same TBI journey you went through, I lawyer up knowing that I "HADIT" with the VA and not being properly rated at R2/T when I originally filed 16 years ago.