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
Most lost back pay is not stolen, it is forfeited, one avoidable decision at a time. Here are the traps to watch for.
When a veteran loses back pay, it is rarely dramatic. There is no villain, just a series of quiet, avoidable decisions that each move the effective date forward. Here are the traps I see most.
After a denial, starting a brand-new claim instead of appealing feels like a fresh start. It is not, it resets your effective date to the new filing and forfeits the months you had already banked. Appeal within the year and keep the original date.
Missing a deadline, ignoring an evidence request, or skipping a C&P exam can cause a claim to lapse. Picking it back up later means a later date and less retro.
Conditions caused by a service-connected disability, and worsening that justifies an increase, can carry effective dates that relate back. Leave them unclaimed and you leave that back pay behind.
The pattern is always the same: a forward-moving effective date. Guard it, and you guard your money.
The regulatory authority behind toxic-exposure claims lives in M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section C (Service Connection for Disabilities Resulting from Exposure to Environmental Hazards). This section governs how raters develop and adjudicate toxic-exposure claims, including burn-pit, Agent Orange, contaminated-water, and radiation claims, and cross-references the PACT Act's conceded-exposure framework under 38 U.S.C. §1168 (TERA). When a C&P examiner renders a negative nexus opinion without addressing the documented exposure pathway, that opinion is inadequate under Barr v. Nicholson, and raters are required to return it for a supplemental opinion. Veterans who receive a denial after a cursory exam should cite the specific M21-1 development procedures the rater failed to follow.
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.
