Withdrawing an Appeal/Claim
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So you want to remove your Appeal, whole Claim, or just one claimed condition?
Before you do CONSIDER the following:
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If this was a new claim you WILL lose your Effective date, which is how your back pay is calculated;
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If this an appeal, if you do NOT refile your appeal within the one year appeal window you WILL lose your effective date;
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If your appeal was a Higher Level Review OR an appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals and it has been over a year since the original claim decision. You will be UNABLE to file either of those appeal types on that claimed issue;
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Even if you are currently rated 100% P&T you can still benefit from having other conditions service connected. This is particularly true if one of the claims are for a condition that is likely to result in your death in the next few years AND/OR you plan on living overseas.
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See Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and the Foreign Medical Program for more information.
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Taking Action
Time to get these conditions removed!
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New claims
You have two primary methods to withdraw; phone and online.
Phone:
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Contact the VA at 1-800-827-1000.
You MUST state specifically which claimed condition(s) you are wanting to pull!
Online:
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The VA does not provide a specific form to remove a claim. However, it is recommended you use a Personal statement form as it contains all the administrative data the VA needs.
On the form you MUST state specifically which claimed condition(s) you are wanting to pull!
Click HERE to submit your statement online.
Higher Level Reviews and Supplemental Claims
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The VA does not provide a specific form to remove a claim. However, it is recommended you use a Personal statement form as it contains all the administrative data the VA needs.
On the form you MUST state specifically which claimed condition(s) you are wanting to pull!
Click HERE to submit your statement online.
Board of Veterans Appeals
You do not have the luxury of an online form. You may submit:
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Via your VSO
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Fax
844-678-8979
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Snail Mail
Board of Veterans' Appeals P.O. Box 27063 Washington, DC 20038
Another option you have is to make the request before the judge. But... please do NOT waste the Court's time and your fellow Veteran's by taking up a slot before a judge!
Time Limit to Submit Paperwork
Requests to remove an appeal/claim MUST be processed by the VA/BVA BEFORE a decision has been made. If the VA/VBA processes your request after this, well... then it is too late!
I Was only KIDDING VA!
So you decided that you actually do not want to drop your claim?
New claims
You have 30 days from when the VA processed your removal request to contact the VA to restore your claim.
You may contact the VA at 1-800-827-1000.
Higher Level Reviews and Supplemental Claims
If you removed any Higher Level Reviews or Supplemental Claims then there is NO takesie-backies!
Board of Veterans Appeals
There are two factors and time-frames that determine if you can reopen your BVA appeal:
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You have NOT received a Statement of the Case (SOC).
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You have have 12 months from the decision you were appealing to submit a VA Form 10182.
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You HAVE received a Statement of the Case (SOC).
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You have 12 months from the date of the SOC to submit a VA Form 9.
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FAQ
I won the claim that I originally canned, can I get back pay to my original claim?
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No.