You served. The VA owes you a debt it does not volunteer to pay. Everything here is free. When you need an accredited agent in your corner, we are right here.
Crisis Line: 988702-992-4883Description
We decode the evidence rules, exam traps, and rating tricks the VA won’t spell out, then fight to win what you earned.
Notes
Information here is free. Optional accredited representation, no fees unless you win.
Albert Thombs
Founder & VA-Accredited Claims Agent · #45147
Your effective date decides how far back your money reaches. Understanding how the VA sets it is worth more than almost any other detail.
Ask most veterans what their effective date is and they shrug. Ask me what matters most in a claim and it is near the top of the list. Under 38 CFR § 3.400, the effective date controls how far back your compensation reaches, and it is not always the day you filed.
For most claims, the effective date is the date the VA received your claim, or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. That is why filing early, and protecting the date with an Intent to File, is so valuable.
The date is not always obvious, and the VA does not always assign the most favorable one. We check it on every grant, because a wrong effective date is money left on the table.
Effective-date and back-pay rules are governed by 38 CFR §3.400 and the procedural development standards in M21-1, Part III, Subpart iv, Chapter 7 (Effective Dates). Raters are required to review the entire claims file to identify the earliest date an informal or formal claim was received and the earliest date entitlement arose, whichever is later controls the effective date. Under Rice v. Shinseki, a claim for TDIU is part of the underlying disability claim, meaning the effective date for TDIU should trace back to the original filing when the evidence supports it. If the VA assigned an effective date later than the claim date without explanation, that is a clear factual error subject to challenge.
Back Pay & Effective Dates
Back Pay & Effective Dates
Back Pay & Effective Dates
Back Pay & Effective Dates
I will be straight with you. No advocate on earth can win a claim for a veteran who will not do his or her part. The VA decides on the record, and you are the only person who can build the medical side of that record. We do the legal and forensic work. You do yours. Here is what that means, every single time:
You do your job and we will do ours. That is how claims get won.
We offer three completely separate services, kept distinct on purpose so you know exactly what you are buying, what it costs, and how it is paid. These are not tiers of one agreement, you choose the single option that fits your situation.
Two are contingency representation with no cost up front; they differ by how hard the case is and how the fee gets paid. The third is a flat-fee forensic report for the veteran who wants to fight the claim himself.
20% of back pay
No cost up front, nothing out of pocket. The VA withholds our fee and pays us directly under §14.636(h). Best for cleaner, more recent, single-issue denials, routine higher-level reviews, supplemental claims, and rating increases, carried all the way to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.
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30% of back pay
For high-complexity cases, long claim histories, prior Board denials, CUE, complex effective-date and TDIU fights, multi-issue toxic exposure. Still no cost up front. Because the VA pays a rep only up to 20% directly, the VA sends your full retro to you and we invoice you directly for the 30%. Lawful, but never entered into lightly.
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$750 flat
A standalone forensic file review and written road map, not representation. For the veteran with a tough, older case who wants to fight it himself and keep 100% of his back pay. We audit your file, show you every error, and hand you the plan. Available only to veterans who already have a VA decision.
See full detailsThe exact contingency percentage on your case is set in a written agreement by the complexity of the work, always within the maximum the law allows. Federal-court litigation, if it is ever needed, is a separate, pre-agreed arrangement.
Albert L. Thombs Jr. is a US Army veteran, VA-Accredited Claims Agent #45147, and 100% service-connected himself. He personally reviews every request. Fees are capped by 38 CFR §14.636, and there are no fees on representation unless you win.
Mon–Fri, 11AM–6PM Pacific
Questions are always free. The Mission 5 Brief is $750 flat.
