The Board denied requests for earlier effective dates for service connection and increased SMC rates due to lack of prior claims within one year before the date of receipt of the forms.
The deciding factor: There was no indication of a claim for an earlier effective date based on loss of use of lower extremities prior to November 30, 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of use of lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2021
- Citation
- 21005564
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 21005564.
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.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran not timely filing a Notice of Disagreement.
- Granted
The Veteran's earlier effective date for special monthly compensation (m) is granted from March 15, 2011 to March 8, 2012. The Board also grants an earlier effective date prior to June 18, 2014, for entitlement to special monthly compensation (p)(m1/2).
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for loss of use of his lower extremities and entitlement to automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment, finding that there was not sufficient evidence to support these claims based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran is already in receipt of SMC at the (l) rate for loss of use of both feet. The Board denied entitlement to additional, separate SMC(k) rates for the loss of use of right and left foot as it would violate the rules prohibiting pyramiding.
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