The good news is that if your claim for VA disability benefits is approved, you are entitled to receive those benefits as of the effective date of your claim. Accordingly, your VA disability back pay will cover the entire period from that effective date and up to the present, when your regular disability payments will begin. The bad news, however, is that the VA is currently processing a backlog of hundreds of thousands of disability claims, and several months or even years might elapse before you recover your full back pay and your ongoing disability benefits.
The key to getting your VA disability back pay as quickly as possible is to make sure your application is complete and includes all the necessary supporting documentation. The VA disability benefits lawyers at the law offices of Marc Whitehead & Associates help disabled veterans to file and submit their disability applications and to respond to VA requests for additional information. We tailor our services to reduce the frustration of dealing with the VA and to verify that our clients receive the full amount of disability back pay that is owed to them.
How is the effective date of a disability claim established?
In most cases, the effective date for the beginning of VA disability payments is either the date when the veteran’s right to receive payments arose or the actual filing date of the disability benefits application. It is generally not the veteran’s service discharge date unless the veteran filed for benefits within one year of discharge. Likewise, the effective date is not necessarily the date of the service-related injury that gave rise to a disability. To establish the effective date for your specific disability claim, consult with an experienced veterans benefits attorney who can assess the facts that will be relevant to your claim.
For a free legal consultation, call 800-562-9830
How do disability ratings affect back pay?
A veteran’s disability might get better or worse after the filing of a disability claim, in which case the VA might assign varying disability ratings for different periods between the disability effective date and the approval date. Those variable disability ratings will affect the amount of back pay that a veteran receives but will not change how the effective date is determined.
Are there any circumstances that might change the effective date of a VA disability claim?
Different circumstances can cause the VA to reconsider or change an effective date for commencement of a right to disability benefits, including, for example, the presumptive service connections between a veteran’s injury and the resulting disability, whether the claim is new or reopened, and errors that the VA might have made in any prior assessments of a veteran’s claim.
In every case, a VA disability benefits lawyer is a disabled veteran’s best resource and advocate to verify that the earliest possible effective date is assigned to an application for disability benefits and to collect the largest amount of back pay.
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Call the Law Offices of Marc Whitehead & Associates
The veterans disability attorneys at the Law Offices of Marc Whitehead & Associates represent disabled veterans throughout the United States from our headquarters in Houston. Call us before you prepare and submit your application for answers to your questions about your claim’s effective date and the VA disability back pay that you are entitled to recover. We can help you to verify that the VA is paying you the largest amount of benefits to compensate for your service-related disability.
Call or text 800-562-9830 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
