When the VA grants service connection for a disability, the next critical question is: When do your benefits begin? The answer lies in your effective date—a legal starting point that determines how far back your compensation will reach. While it might seem like a simple administrative detail, an incorrect effective date can cost you months or even years of back pay.

In this guide, we’ll explain what effective dates are, how they’re determined, what mistakes the VA commonly makes, and how you can challenge a decision that gets it wrong. If you’re dealing with a low rating, a delayed approval, or a condition that should’ve been recognized earlier, this information can help you protect your benefits and secure the compensation you’ve earned.

What Is an Effective Date and Why Does It Matter?

Your effective date is the official start date for your VA disability compensation. It determines how much retroactive pay you’re owed between the time you became entitled to benefits and the date the VA issues a decision.

For most Veterans, the effective date is either:

  • The date the VA received the claim, or
  • The date your entitlement to benefits arose—whichever is later

This date serves as the financial anchor for your entire award. Monthly compensation begins accruing from the effective date, not from the date the VA finally rules in your favor. In many cases, Veterans wait months—or even years—for a decision. A properly set effective date ensures that time isn’t lost financially.

Even small errors in this date can have big financial consequences. If the VA sets your effective date months—or years—after you first filed or became eligible, you could miss out on thousands of dollars in back pay. For higher-rated disabilities or TDIU, that number can climb significantly. That’s why understanding, identifying, and correcting effective date issues is so important to maximizing your VA benefits.

How the VA Decides Your Effective Date

Under federal regulations—specifically 38 CFR § 3.400—the VA assigns effective dates based on the type of claim you file and the circumstances surrounding it. These rules can be technical, and while they’re intended to be consistent, they’re not always applied correctly. Understanding how these dates are supposed to be assigned can help you spot mistakes in your own VA decision.

Original Claims

For most first-time claims, the effective date is the date the VA receives your application. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve had the condition or how severe it is—the clock starts ticking when your claim is officially filed. This is why timely filing is so important.

Increased Rating Claims

If you’re already service-connected and apply for an increased rating, the effective date is usually the earliest date it’s “factually ascertainable” that your condition worsened—up to one year before the VA receives your request. If there’s no evidence showing when the condition worsened, the effective date defaults to the date of the new claim.

Reopened Claims

For claims that were previously denied and later reopened with new and material evidence, the effective date is generally the date you filed to reopen. However, if the original denial was not final—for example, because you never received notice or a proper explanation—you may be able to argue for an earlier effective date tied to the original claim.

Presumptive Conditions

When the VA adds new presumptive conditions, effective dates can be based on either the date the law changed or the date the Veteran filed a claim—whichever results in the later date, unless specific exceptions apply.

Secondary Conditions

For conditions that are caused or worsened by an existing service-connected disability, the effective date is usually the date the VA received your secondary claim. However, if medical records clearly document an earlier onset related to the primary condition, there may be grounds to request an earlier date.

Because these rules vary significantly based on the type and timing of your claim, it’s easy for errors to occur. Both Veterans and VA adjudicators can misunderstand how effective dates should be applied—especially when dealing with complex histories or overlapping claims. A clear understanding of the law, and strong supporting evidence, is key to making sure your compensation starts when it should.

Common Mistakes Veterans See in Their Effective Dates

The VA doesn’t always get it right. In fact, incorrect effective dates are one of the most frequently appealed issues in VA disability decisions. Sometimes these errors are simple oversights. Other times, they result from a misunderstanding of VA regulations or a misreading of your claim history. Regardless of the cause, these mistakes can cost Veterans significant back pay—and they’re more common than most people realize.

Using the Wrong Claim Date

One of the most frequent errors is when the VA assigns the effective date based on the date of a medical exam or a later piece of evidence, rather than the original claim submission date. For example, if you filed a claim in January but your C&P exam wasn’t conducted until April, the VA might mistakenly use the April date—cutting off months of back pay. This is especially frustrating when the claim was fully supported from the start.

Overlooking Informal Claims

Prior to 2015, Veterans were allowed to submit informal claims—communications that signaled an intent to seek benefits, even if they didn’t include a formal form or full documentation. These could take the form of a letter, a statement made during a VA appointment, or a note in the record. Today, the VA sometimes fails to recognize these earlier informal claims, assigning the effective date based on the later formal application. This misstep can lead to years of lost compensation if the earlier intent to file is ignored.

Misclassifying or Restarting Claims

Another common problem arises when the VA treats an ongoing issue as a new claim, rather than a continuation or clarification of an existing one. For example, if you submit additional evidence while your claim is still open, the VA may mistakenly consider it a new claim filed on a later date. This resets the effective date and shortchanges your back pay—despite the fact that your original claim was never truly resolved.

Ignoring Secondary or Inferred Claims

Sometimes the VA fails to assign proper effective dates for secondary conditions, or for issues that were reasonably raised by the evidence but not explicitly claimed. For example, a Veteran may apply for PTSD, and the records show related migraines, but the VA doesn’t address these issues until much later. The effective date for those conditions should often track back to the original claim if they are clearly connected—but they’re too often treated as brand-new filings.

Failure to Apply Liberalizing Law

When the VA updates its rules—for example, by adding new presumptive conditions related to Agent Orange, Gulf War toxins, or burn pit exposure—Veterans may be eligible for earlier effective dates under liberalizing law provisions. However, the VA sometimes fails to apply these rules retroactively or misinterprets when the law went into effect. This leads to denials of earlier effective dates even when the Veteran would qualify.

How to Appeal an Incorrect Effective Date

If you believe the VA assigned the wrong effective date in your decision letter, you have the right to appeal—and it’s important to act quickly. The effective date determines how far back your compensation goes, and even a small miscalculation can cost you thousands in back pay. Fortunately, the VA’s appeals system gives you several options for challenging errors, depending on the nature of the mistake and the strength of your evidence.

Higher-Level Review

A Higher-Level Review is often the best choice if you believe the VA made a clear legal or factual error based on the evidence already in your file. This lane doesn’t allow for the submission of new evidence, but it does provide the opportunity to have a more experienced VA adjudicator reexamine your case.

For example, if the VA used the date of your C&P exam instead of your original claim date, or overlooked medical records that were already in the system, a Higher-Level Review can correct the mistake quickly. You may also request an informal conference to discuss the issue directly with the reviewer, which can be particularly useful in effective date disputes.

Supplemental Claim

A Supplemental Claim is the appropriate lane when you have new and relevant evidence that wasn’t part of your original file. This could include medical records showing that your condition existed earlier than the VA acknowledged, or documentation proving that you filed an informal claim before the formal one.

This route is often used when the VA set the effective date based on incomplete evidence—especially if your original claim was denied and you now have the information needed to support an earlier entitlement date. The VA has a duty to assist in developing Supplemental Claims, which means they may also help gather federal records or schedule a new C&P exam if needed.

Board Appeal

A Board Appeal allows you to present your case to a Veterans Law Judge and is often the best route for complex, long-standing, or disputed cases. You can choose between a direct review, submitting new evidence, or requesting a hearing. This flexibility makes the Board a strong option when your case involves multiple claim dates, legal interpretation, or competing medical opinions.

For instance, if your case hinges on an informal claim from years ago or an improperly closed prior decision, a Veterans Law Judge can examine the full record, weigh credibility, and apply legal precedent more precisely than other lanes allow.

Timing Matters

Effective date appeals are often time-sensitive. If you don’t respond to the VA’s decision within one year, you may lose the ability to challenge the effective date—permanently locking in a reduced compensation timeline. In some cases, if your decision was final years ago, you may still be able to challenge the date based on a clear and unmistakable error (CUE) or failure to provide proper notice, but these options require a much higher legal burden.

If your VA decision doesn’t align with when you actually became eligible for benefits, don’t wait. Appealing a flawed effective date is not just about technicalities—it’s about restoring the full value of the compensation you’ve rightfully earned.

How Legal Help Can Make the Difference

Filing an appeal on your own is possible—but effective date disputes often involve technical legal arguments and deep familiarity with VA case law and filing history. Many of these errors aren’t obvious at first glance. The VA might cite the correct regulation but misapply it, or fail to acknowledge earlier filings that were improperly closed or never adjudicated. Without a deep understanding of how the VA tracks, classifies, and finalizes claims over time, these details can be missed—and valuable back pay can be lost.

A VA-accredited attorney can review your full claims file, including older denials, informal submissions, and medical documentation that may point to an earlier entitlement date. They know how to interpret VA correspondence and identify whether a prior claim was still open or a new one was mistakenly created. This kind of analysis is critical when arguing for an earlier effective date—especially if your claim history spans multiple years or conditions.

At Veterans Law Group, we focus exclusively on VA disability appeals. That includes helping Veterans who received the right rating—but the wrong start date. We understand the long-term impact of these errors, and we work to correct them so that Veterans receive every dollar they’ve earned through service and persistence.

Don’t Settle for the Wrong Start Date

If your VA decision letter includes a service connection but sets the effective date too late, don’t assume it’s correct. Even a small miscalculation can add up to a significant financial loss over time.

You fought hard for your benefits. Make sure you receive everything you’re entitled to—including the back pay that goes with it.

If you’ve received a VA decision and the effective date seems off, Veterans Law Group can help. We offer free case reviews and only get paid if we win your appeal.

Contact us today to find out if your effective date can be corrected—and what that correction could be worth.