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Claims Process Streamlined for Veterans Affected by the 1973 NPRC Records Fire
Roughly 16 to 18 million military service records burned at the National Personnel Records Center in July 1973. VA streamlined the claims process in July 2026 — and a denial that said your records could not be located is worth a second look.
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PACT Act Back Pay: Was Your Effective Date Wrong?
Possibly. The PACT Act’s mandated effective date is August 10, 2022, but the VA computed more than 28,000 awards from the veteran’s application date instead, producing reduced past-due benefits. Check the date on your decision letter.
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Can the VA Reduce or Take Away My Disability Rating?
Sometimes — but veterans have far more protection than most realize. Ratings held five, ten, and twenty years carry escalating protections, and the VA must give you notice and an opportunity for a hearing before any reduction takes effect.
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Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, or Board Appeal: Which Should I Choose?
It depends on what went wrong. New evidence points to a supplemental claim; a decision made wrong on the existing record points to a Higher-Level Review or a Board appeal. You generally have one year from the decision to choose.
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How Far Back Can VA Disability Back Pay Go?
Usually back to your filing date. File within a year of discharge and it can run from separation, and a successful CUE motion can reach back decades — in our firm’s Baker v. McDonough case, benefits were awarded retroactive to 1992.
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The VA Denied My Claim Years Ago. Is It Too Late?
Not necessarily. A final VA decision can be revised at any time for clear and unmistakable error, and if CUE is established benefits are paid as though the original decision had been correct — which can mean decades of retroactive compensation.
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How Much Does a VA Disability Lawyer Cost?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, federal law bars any fee for filing an initial claim, and appeal-stage fees are typically 20% of past-due benefits — paid by the VA directly out of your retroactive award, so you never write a check.