- Hi and welcome back to Hill & Ponton's VA disability blog.
I'm Natalia Jofre the company COO.
- And I'm attorney Melanie Williams.
- And today we're gonna be talking about
how to reopen your old VA disability claim.
So Melanie, first question
is when does the VA claim need to be reopened?
- Yes.
So when you file a claim for service connection
and the VA denies you,
if it's a rating decision you have one year from the date
of that decision to file an appeal.
If you don't file an appeal the claim closes,
it's final.
So in order to file service connection
for that same condition you have to reopen the claim.
- Okay.
So, okay so that's why it would need to be reopened
because it closed on its own,
because you didn't appeal it in time, basically.
- Exactly, yes.
- Okay, okay.
And what type of evidence would you need
in order to do that?
- Yeah, so when you file a claim to reopen a condition
you have to submit evidence with it.
You can't just file a claim again because,
you know, if you think about it veterans would just
kinda keep filing over and over again
and the VA's just gonna keep making the same decision
over and over again. - Right.
- So you need to file new evidence with your claim,
under the legacy systems.
So that's the previous appeal system,
everything that was before February 2019.
Under the legacy system you had to submit evidence
that was new and material.
So-- - I heard that term
that's a biggie. - Yes.
Yes, exactly. - Okay.
- So new evidence basically means evidence
that the VA had not previously considered
when making their decision.
Material evidence means it relates to an unestablished fact
necessary to substantiate the claim.
So you'll wanna ask yourself,
does this evidence show a fact that would show
that the claim is valid?
So that's what new and material means.
- Is that the same as new and relevant?
I've heard new and relevant too.
- It is not the same.
Well for VA purposes it's not the same.
So new and relevant is the standard
under the new appeal system,
the AMA or Appeals Modernization Act.
This is for all new claims filed after February 2019.
So right now we are in the AMA system.
So if you were going to be filing a claim to reopen
you would have to file evidence that is new and relevant.
So new is the same thing.
You know, evidence that the VA
had previously not considered.
But relevant is gonna mean something that,
evidence that proves or disproves a claim.
So you know something that is speaking to the claim itself.
It can't be something that's not relevant, basically.
So the difference is that the VA says that this standard
is lower.
It's a lower bar that the veteran has to meet
in order to reopen their claim.
- So what if
the VA finds that something
is not
new and material.
Can that be appealed?
- Yes, absolutely.
It can be appealed just like a regular claim
so again if the claim is still in the legacy system
you know, you could appeal it the same way
through the Decision Review Officer.
If they still disapprove it,
it goes up to the board under this new AMA system.
You would appeal either through higher level review
or you would appeal it up to the board
so it would be appealed the same way.
If you didn't want to appeal it and you just wanted to,
you have more new evidence to submit,
you can do that as well by submitting a sentimental claim.
- Okay, because that was my next question.
So how does reopening a claim work
with a new VA appeal system,
AMA.
- Yes, so-- - So--
- To reopen a claim it's what they call
a supplemental claim.
You have to use the form 0995
and so you would be submitting
that form with your new evidence.
If you have, whether it's treatment records
or whatever the case may be,
if you don't have the treatment records yourself
you can tell the VA where you're getting treated,
what dates and the VA then has a duty to get those records
for you.
That's, you know, their duty to assist
and so that would still count as new and relevant evidence.
- Okay, I know you mentioned that form,
where can people find that form?
- You can find it online and then you would just submit,
you know, submit the claim the way that you normally would
through eBenefits.
You could mail it or fax it to the RO
or if you were working with us we would do that for you.
- Okay and what's the website, is it the va.org or...?
- va.gov.
- va.gov, okay.
- Yeah and you can also just google it
and you'll find it that way.
- Okay, great.
So how do effective dates work when reopening a claim?
- Yes, so once when you previously filed the claim
and it closed, that claim is closed.
You don't wanna think about that anymore
because when you file the new claim to reopen
that's gonna be your effective date.
There are certain exceptions to that
but for the most part
the date of the claim that you filed to reopen
that's gonna be your effective date,
once they grant service connection.
- And how do you file that?
How do you file to reopen the VA claim?
- The same way, again, under AMA
you would file the supplemental form.
- Okay. - Along with your new evidence
through, you know, eBenefits
or the RO mailing and faxing it et cetera.
- Okay, is it better to file a new claim
versus asking for the old claim
to be reopened
or is there a difference?
- So if you had previously filed for service connection
and it was denied and the claim was final,
you can't just file a new claim and/or if you wanna file
for that same condition it has to be a claim to reopen,
you know, because like I mentioned you know,
you can't just kinda keep filing the same thing
over and over again. - Great.
- So if it was previously filed and denied and you file it,
you know, you wanna open that claim again,
it's a claim to reopen.
- Okay, all right.
Why wouldn't I reopen a VA claim?
It seems like it would only benefit a veteran but me,
is there any reason why you wouldn't do it?
- Yeah, I mean if you wanna get service-connected
for a condition you do wanna go ahead and reopen it.
The only time that I would think that it's not beneficial
is if you were already receiving a 100% or you know,
just keep in mind that when you file a new claim,
they're likely going to send you for a C&P Exam,
and they're gonna re-evaluate you so if they find something
that would warrant a decrease in your rating
that's kinda the only thing, you know,
that you are exposing yourself to and that you're risking
by filing your claim. - So there is a risk?
There's an inherent risk there, right?
- Right.
- And we've done blogs on C&P Exams.
I'm sure we'll do some more but there's some out there
already that you could probably watch.
Can you repeal a reopened claim?
- Yes, well again, if they deny service-connection.
- Yeah. - You can appeal it
and just keep fighting it the same way you would
if it was an initial claim
and then again, once they grant service connection
the effective date would go back to the day
that you filed that claim to reopen.
- Okay.
In our last blog we were talking about diabetes
and we talked about Blue Water Veterans
and so this claim, this question relates to that.
Can Blue Water Navy Veterans reopen old claims
related to agent orange.
- Yes, absolutely.
We would definitely recommend
if you have been previously denied for a condition,
go ahead and file a claim to reopen that condition.
Because of the new, Procopio case that came out last year,
Blue Water Veterans are now entitled to service connection.
So as far as the effective dates go
there's still a lot to be figured out
and we're kind of, you know,
waiting to see what the VA is gonna do that's up in the air
but in order to be safe, you know,
your best bet is to go ahead and file a new claim
to reopen that condition that you previously filed for.
- Is there anything that those Blue Water Veterans
should consider when they're reopening these claims?
- Not necessarily, I mean you know you'll still wanna,
you'll still have to submit new evidence with it
but,
you know,
it just kinda be patient because the VA is still
working it out. - Figuring it out.
- Yeah, exactly.
We have yet to see exactly how it's all gonna play out.
- Okay, great.
This was super helpful Melanie, thank you so much.
- Thank you.
- All right. Thanks for joining us.
If you have any questions
please feel free to visit our website or call our office.
Thank you.
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