effective date What is my effective date

[Logarius]

Hi, I am curious and thought I would ask here. I was trying to find out what my effective date is. I reached out to the DAV to find out if they would be going back to 2011 since my initial C&P exam. Here below was there response:

10/20/11, you filed a claim

1/17/12, the VA said you failed to report to exams (FTR)

4/2/12, the VA deferred decisions on your back and GERD

3/11/13, the VA denied the claims because they said you failed to report to exams in 2012

12/31/13, you filed for your back and GERD again

11/27/15, the VA denied the claim

THIS IS WHERE IT DROPS

7/14/17 you re-filed and attended exams, that is the date of service connection.  If you wouldn’t have had over a year in between these then they could’ve gone back, but as you can see by the screen shot included, there was no activity between 2015 and 2017.

 

Does this make sense the fact that I missed just single one year in 2016 of continuous reapplying that I can't go back to 2011?? I've tried to look all over the place to find something in the VA to support this but haven't found anything.

 

[GBArmy]

Logarius EED can be a complex beast with a lot of twists and turns, but it sure looks like you had a break in the continuous string to keep it going. "Missing JUST a single year" is, well, STILL breaking the continuous timeline. If you want to confirm the directive, look it up in the VA manual M21-1. IMHO your EED is 7/14/17.

[broncovet]

We never recommend failing to show for a c and p exam.  It amounts to the same thing as writing VA a letter and say, "I dont want any benefits anymore".  

Exception:  If you were not notified of the exam AND VA had your current address on file.  

Your effective date is the "later" of the date of claim or the facts found (the date the doc said you were disabled).  Since I have no idea when the doc said you were disabled, I have no idea what effective date your claim will be. 

Also a factor, did you appeal the denials?  Generally to preserve the effective date you need to timely file a nod.  

The date of the c and p exam is not necessarily your date of sc.  You could have gone to a c and p exam in 2015, and the doc could have opined you had the disorder since 2011, but I dont know if he did that or not.  

We also dont know if your condition worsened between 2011 and today.  Sometimes the VA will do Fenderson (staged rating) but letting a denial lapse without appealing isnt good for you.  

Its my opinion that you will likely get 2017 as an effective date provided that the doc said you were disabled on that date.  However, you could appeal, arguing that VA awarded the same benefit as was denied in 2011 (if that is the case), then you could get a lawyer and get 6 more years of retro.."if" he thinks you have a winnable claim.  

Oh, and I have won 2 effective date claims..but only after fighting them, and hiring a lawyer.  

 Your appeal period (such as the one in 2011 or 2015) does not end "until" VA sends you a notice of your appeal rights.  I dont know if you were sent notice of appeal rights or not.  VA has gotten good at sending appeal notice rights, but not so much back in 2011 or 2015.  

A lawyer can help out with that, too, he can check your VBMS file to see if documentation of sending appeal rights is there.  

Finally, if you submitted "new evidence" such as a doc exam treating your condition, this can be a request to reopen under 38 cfr 3.156, and result in an earlier effective date.  

In sum, we cant tell the effective date without reviewing your file.  
 

Edited May 15, 2020 by broncovet

[Logarius]

So, for I was never notified of previous exams, which I stated in my NOD. Of the exams going back to 2011, each year they denied it and I never received any appointments or calls. Finally in 2017, the VA called me and said they wanted to do C&P Exams for all of my claims. Yes, all of my conditions worsened since then. 

On another note, since I know that Ebenefits and va.gov don't show exact completion dates, is there any way to really track a claim?

[broncovet]

Now we are "cooking with gas", you posted:

Quote

So, for I was never notified of previous exams, which I stated in my NOD

The VA has done that in the past.  Deny based on no show for exam, when the VA didnt notify the Veteran at his "last known address".  IF YOU moved and did not change your address, then its not VA's fault for not notifiying you.  

You have "at least" ONE valid theory for not showing to an exam, but it still looks bad when you did not appeal the denial.  

If your condition got worse in 2018, then you wont get paid for those worse symptoms back to 2011.  ITs possible you get 0 percent from 2011 then 20 percent after 2018, for example.  

My advice is to appeal the effective date (but not until you get a decision awarding benefits at an incorrect effective date), and go over the decision with a fine tooth comb and see VA's reasons for the effective date.  Then try to refute their reasons with evidence. 

In answer to your last question, the only good way to track your claim is to have VBMS access..and that is only available through your VSO or attorney, "provided that" that VSO or attorney has jumped through VA hoops to obtain VBMS access.  

VSO's have a habit of obtaining your POA, then dont call you or return your calls "until" you get a favorable decision with big retro and they want you to donate to the DAV.  

IN the DAV's "unwritten" rule book their is clause 13.b which states:

Quote

Never return a Veterans calls because he will want you to do more work.  Instead, blame your answering machine.  

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by broncovet