So you’ve filed a VA disability claim and you’ve heard that the VA will eventually pay you money for your disability benefits going back into the past, and while you’re waiting for the VA to decide… And you will wait a long time for the VA to decide, you start to wonder how far back will the VA pay you? And the answer to that depends on the effective date of your claim. I’m going to talk about effective dates using some typical examples going off the date you file, the date you separated from the military, and an intent to file.
Ok, let’s say we have a veteran, let’s call him Vinny. Now Vinny thinks he has TBI from being in an IED attack in Iraq, and he’s got a whole bunch of pain in his knee from injuries while he was in the Army, that never quite healed. Because you know how it is when you have an injury and you’re in the Army, it doesn’t matter if a bone is sticking out, someone is going to tell you you’re probably just dehydrated and need to drink more water. But back to Vinny, let’s say he files a disability claim for these disabilities on April 14, 2019.
Now, let’s say the VA makes a decision on October 4, 2019, and awards Vinny 10% for the knee and 10% for TBI. How far back will the VA pay Vinny? May 1, 2019. In this case, Vinny’s effective date is the date he filed his claim, and his payments start on the first day of the first month following his effective date. He filed his claim on April 14, 2019, so his payments start May 1, 2019. Now, let’s add some wrinkles.
What if Vinny Separated from the Army on June 18, 2018, filed the same claim on April 14, 2019, and had a decision on October 4, 2019? Vinny will get payments going back to July 1, 2018. The difference here is because if you file a disability claim within one year of getting out of the military, your effective date is the day after the date of your separation. For Vinny, his separation date, is June 18, 2018, and because he filed his claim within one year of that date, June 19, 2018 is his effective date and his payments go back to July 1, 2018.
How about another wrinkle, What if Vinny still got out of the Army on June 18, 2018, and by May of 2019, he hasn’t filed a claim, but he wants to, but he doesn’t have any of the information he needs and he’s just not ready. Vinny can file an Intent to File form. This form buys Vinny another year. He could file the intent to file on June 5, 2019, file his claim on May 10, 2020, get his decision in December 2020, and his effective date would still be the day after he left service, June 19, 2018.
Alright, so we got Vinny taken care of, for now. Vinny is totally made up, by the way, this is not any specific Veteran’s claim. Effective date issues can get very complicated very quickly. As usual, if you want me to help you out with your disability claim, you can reach out to me through the links on my website.