Jump to content

Ask Your VA Claims Questions | Read Current Posts 
Read VA Disability Claims Articles
Search | View All Forums | Donate | Blogs | New Users | Rules 

  • tbirds-va-claims-struggle (1).png

  • Donate Now and Keep Us Helping You

     

  • 0

What is my effective date

Rate this question


Logarius

Question

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.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0
  • HadIt.com Elder

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • Lead Moderator

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 by broncovet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

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?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
  • Lead Moderator

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 by broncovet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Tell a friend

    Love HadIt.com’s VA Disability Community Vets helping Vets since 1997? Tell a friend!
  • Recent Achievements

    • LEArmy93P earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • LtDave earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • HillTopVet earned a badge
      First Post
    • kidva went up a rank
      Contributor
    • AFguy1999 went up a rank
      Rookie
  • Our picks

    • These decisions have made a big impact on how VA disability claims are handled, giving veterans more chances to get benefits and clearing up important issues.

      Service Connection

      Frost v. Shulkin (2017)
      This case established that for secondary service connection claims, the primary service-connected disability does not need to be service-connected or diagnosed at the time the secondary condition is incurred 1. This allows veterans to potentially receive secondary service connection for conditions that developed before their primary condition was officially service-connected. 

      Saunders v. Wilkie (2018)
      The Federal Circuit ruled that pain alone, without an accompanying diagnosed condition, can constitute a disability for VA compensation purposes if it results in functional impairment 1. This overturned previous precedent that required an underlying pathology for pain to be considered a disability.

      Effective Dates

      Martinez v. McDonough (2023)
      This case dealt with the denial of an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) 2. It addressed issues around the validity of appeal withdrawals and the consideration of cognitive impairment in such decisions.

      Rating Issues

      Continue Reading on HadIt.com
      • 1 review
    • I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful.  We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did.  He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims.  He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file.  It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to  1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015.  It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me.  He didn't want my copies.  Anyone have any information on this.  Much thanks in advance.  
      • 4 replies
    • Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
      Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL

      This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:

      Current Diagnosis.   (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)

      In-Service Event or Aggravation.
      Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
      • 0 reviews
    • Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability rating 
    • VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their  ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.  

      They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.  

      This is not true, 

      Proof:  

          About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because  when they cant work, they can not keep their home.  I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason:  "Its been too long since military service".  This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA.  And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time,  mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends. 

          Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly.  The VA is broken. 

          A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals.  I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision.  All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did. 

          I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt".   Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day?  Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.   
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use