The Veteran is seeking an effective date earlier than February 1, 2009, for the payment of a dependency allowance for his spouse. The Board denied this claim as the completed VA Form 21-686(c) was not received by VA within one year from the notification letter in May 2007.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not submit the completed VA Form 21-686(c) within a year of receiving the notification letter, which is required for dependency benefits to be awarded. The form was submitted after this period and thus an earlier effective date is denied.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 5, 2012
- Citation
- 1208284
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 1208284.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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