I just love it when VA finds itself under assault after a CAVC ruling shines light on a little known pearl sitting amongst a bed of Oysters. Vigil v. Peake (2008) was one. It illuminated a rarely cited regulation buried at the bottom of the new and material evidence reg (3.156 (a)). 3.156 (b) is another one but we are not concerned with that here.
3.156(c) is another avenue to reopen an old, unappealed claim without resorting to CUE. If you have old, official documents or records that discuss or verify any of your contentions, and these records are instrumental in granting your claim, then the claim date has to be whenever you first filed for this. Occasionally this occurred at the BVA level and was properly decided. But every once in a while the VA decides it wants to die up on the hill with Custer. It knows it’s going to lose, but can’t bear to part with all that moolah.
With the inception of the Joint Center for Uniform Records Research, these rulings became more frequent. This is what happened in this case. It is disenheartening to see Veterans lose due to poor VA or Military recordskeeping. When a Vet finally manages to tell his story to a Judge, straighten out a lot of misunderstandings and obtain needed evidence to make his case, this is what ensues. The gentleman has other issues he is fighting , but this is one of the big ones and will result in a tidy little check for past due compensation.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 