How Is the Effective Date of Veterans Disability Determined?

How Is the Effective Date of Veterans Disability Determined?

Typically, the effective date, meaning the date at which you are first owed Veterans Disability benefits, is the date on which the Department of Veterans Affairs receives your application. For example, if you file your application on January 5, 2020 and the VA receives it on January 9, 2020, the second date will be your effective date.

However, there are some cases in which Veterans may be eligible to receive back pay if they can demonstrate that their service-related disability began at an earlier date. The amount of time for which a Veteran is owed back pay depends on a number of factors.

There are other situations in which the effective date may be different from the date on which the VA received your application. These include:

• Filing for disability within a year of leaving service. In this situation, your effective date will likely be the day after your service ended. In some cases, if the VA presumes a service connection, your effective date may be the date on which you first became disabled.
• Appeal for increased disability rating. If you file an appeal to increase your disability rating within one year of the event that triggered your disability, your effective date will be the date on which you first became eligible for the rating increase. If it has been more than a year, the effective date will be the date your appeal is approved.

For more information on filing any type of Veterans Disability claim, please feel free to give us a call anytime at 877.526.3457. One of our representatives will be happy to answer your questions. Or if you’d prefer to contact us online, please fill out this form.