What are Effective Dates of VA Disability Claims and Why Do They Matter?

What are Effective Dates of VA Disability Claims and Why Do They Matter?

In simple terms, the effective date for your VA disability claim is the date on which you are eligible to start receiving benefits. That can be a bit confusing, though, because the VA assigns effective dates as soon as they receive your VA disability claim–before you or they know whether you will even be approved for benefits. 

Here’s what you need to know about how the VA determines your effective dates, when you may be able to act to establish an earlier effective date, and how that effective date will impact your benefits.

How Does the VA Determine Effective Dates?

Typically, the VA uses the date the claim is filed as the effective date. This means that the date the veteran files a claim is typically the start date for VA disability benefits, even if those benefits aren’t approved for months (or even years). In some cases, the VA uses an earlier date than the date of application.

Some examples of situations in which the effective dates of a VA disability claim might not be the application date include: 

• When the veteran has filed a notice of intent to file a VA disability claim and then files the claim within one year, in that situation, the effective date is typically the date the notice was filed
• When the veteran files a claim within one year of separating from military service, in that case, the effective date will usually be the first day after the date of separation from service or the date the medical condition arose 
• When a law or regulation change makes a veteran eligible, in that case, the effective date may be the date of the law change (if the request to review occurs within one year of the change) or up to one year prior to the request or review (if it occurs more than a year after the law change)

Why are Effective Dates Important?

Effective dates are important because the amount of retroactive benefits, or back pay, that a veteran receives depends on their effective date. The earlier the date, the more back pay.

Retroactive benefits, or back pay, is the money owed to the veteran by the VA for the time that has elapsed from their effective date to the time they are granted benefits. This time span can be months or years.

Effective Dates and Back Pay

Imagine, for example, that a veteran filed for VA disability benefits on August 30, 2023. The claim was initially denied, and the veteran appealed. Ultimately, the veteran was approved with a 50% VA disability rating on September 30, 2024. 

The veteran would be entitled to 13 months of back benefits. Those benefits are paid at the rate that was applicable when they were accrued. In this case, that means that the veteran would receive three months of backpay at the 2023 rate for 50% disability ($1,041.82) and another 10 months at the 2024 rate ($1,075.60) for a total of $13,877.06 in VA disability benefits that would be paid out shortly after approval.

Obviously, no veteran would want to miss out on that back pay. But it could be even more. For example, if the veteran had filed a notice of intent to file a VA disability claim on February 1, 2023, that would be the effective date of the veteran’s claim rather than August 30. That would mean seven additional months of back pay for a total of $7,292.74. 

In other words, the veteran could have received more than $7,000 in additional VA disability backpay simply by filing a notice of intent to file while gathering evidence and putting their claim together.

Obviously, the impact is even more significant at higher disability ratings. For example, at a 100% disability rating, this same veteran would have received more than $48,000 in back pay. If they’d filed the notice of intent as described above, that would jump to more than $73,000 payable very shortly after the VA disability claim was approved. In short, the effective dates of your VA disability claim can make a huge difference in the benefits you ultimately receive. 

Effective Dates and the Appeals Process

Obviously, if your VA disability claim is denied, you will want to appeal the denial as soon as possible, because that’s the best way to keep your claim moving and get your benefits approved as soon as possible. But that’s not the only reason. 

As the example above illustrates, if your claim is denied and you successfully appeal, your effective date doesn’t change, and you’ll get backpay all the way back to the day you filed your claim–in some cases, even earlier. But what happens if you miss your appeal deadline or choose not to appeal and then file a new claim later? 

When that happens, you lose your original effective date. Your new effective date will typically be the date you filed your new claim. In some cases, that may mean that you lose years of benefits. If your disability rating is high, that could mean a loss of $100,000 or more. 

Get Help With Your VA Disability Claim or Appeal

The effective date of your VA disability claim is just one of many issues that the average person filing a claim might not think about or know how to make the most of. At Veterans Help Group, our accredited VA disability benefits advocates have developed deep knowledge of the process and expertise in putting together the strongest possible claims and appeals. 

Whether you are just thinking about filing a claim or have had a claim denied, we can help. Our advocates may also be able to help if your VA disability claim was approved, but you believe they’ve made a wrong decision about some aspect of your benefits, such as the effective date of your claim or your disability rating. CLICK HERE to contact our team today or call us at 855-855-8992.

Disabled Veteran Resources:

• Veteran Social Security Disability Qualification Questionnaire
• Most Commonly Approved VA Disability Claims
• Veterans Disability Benefits Calculator
• FREE Downloadable VA Disability Benefit Guidebooks