The veteran had no service-connected disabilities at the time of his death. The appellant, his widow, sought accrued benefits for unreimbursed medical expenses from 2001, but these were not submitted prior to his death. As there was no outstanding claim for additional VA benefits pending when he died, and as the veteran did not have any unpaid VA benefits due him under existing decisions at the time of his death, the appellant's accrued benefits claim is denied.

The deciding factor: The veteran had no service-connected disabilities, and thus could not be entitled to accrued benefits based on medical expenses. The appellant failed to submit her unreimbursed medical expense report prior to the veteran's death, which prevented any entitlement to accrued benefits under existing decisions or due to an outstanding claim for additional VA benefits.

Claimed conditions

Not specified in this decision

How they argued it

Not specified

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

November 10, 2005

Citation

0530178

This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0530178.