The Board has granted an earlier effective date of September 30, 2013 for the grant of service connection for a left ankle disability and left ankle scar.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's statement on September 30, 2013 can be broadly construed as an informal claim for service connection for a left ankle disability. As VA was able to construe from her statement that she was seeking service connection for the condition at the time, it was apparent from VA's communication to the Veteran that her statement could have been broadly construed to include entitlement to service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle chronic lateral collateral ligament sprain status post Brostrom procedure, left ankle scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 2, 2024
- Citation
- A24079273
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 A24079273.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's left ankle scar is currently rated as noncompensable, and the Board finds that the evidence does not support a compensable rating.,The Veteran's left ankle fracture with osteoarthritis and tendinitis is currently rated at 20 percent. The Board has remanded this issue for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) is denied because he does not have a single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling, and his disabilities do not meet the requirements of SMC under this section.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and increased evaluations due to the need for medical opinions regarding potential exposure to toxins during service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities resulted in, at minimum, the effective loss of use of one foot. The criteria for establishing eligibility for financial assistance in the purchase of an automobile and adaptive equipment have been met.
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