VA Claim Remands & More Explained: BVA Decisions

May 19, 2018

When you submit a claim to the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (BVA), three different BVA decisions can be made; grant, deny, or remand.

We are going to look at each of these BVA decisions and discuss what they mean.

Your Appeal is Granted

You receive a letter in the mail stating that your appeal was granted. This is the best case scenario for you. You submitted all of your medical evidence along with all of the forms that are required. You wait for what seems like forever and then you receive a letter saying your appeal was granted. Your appeal is over. Congratulations!

Your Appeal Gets Remanded

You receive a letter in the mail stating that your appeal, in whole or in part, is remanded. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The BVA can remand your case, or specific claims within your case, for a few different reasons.

For example:

There has been a change in the law
Your disability worsened during your appeal
You introduced new evidence in your hearing
The regional office did not process your claim correctly
The regional office did not gather enough evidence or did not gather the correct evidence

These are not all of the reasons your BVA decision may be remanded, but there should be an explanation in the letter you receive. It will also state what the Regional Office (RO) needs to complete or what evidence they may need to gather.

After The Remand

When your appeal is remanded, the BVA will send your claims file back to the RO (regional office) where your claim was first adjudicated. Along with your file, the BVA will also send a list of what you, your attorney, and the RO need to do before the RO makes a new decision.

After this, if more evidence was requested, this new evidence is gathered. You will have 30 days to submit the new evidence. The VA is required to help you develop your claim such as scheduling you for another exam or gathering records on your behalf.

One the RO receives the new evidence or the 30 days are up, then the VA adjudicator will make a new decision on your appeal. They will either grant or deny or appeal.

If they grant your appeal, then you are done! You have won your appeal and can be done with the process.

If they deny your appeal, they will send you a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC). The SSOC will state why you were denied along with a summary of the evidence relevant to your case and a summary of the laws and regulations used to make the decision. You can file a VA Form 9 in response to this SSOC and request a hearing.

Your Appeal Gets Denied

If your appeal gets denied, you may continue with the appeal, you can accept the decision, or you can file again from the beginning (and lose your date of claim).

If you choose to continue with the appeal, you will need to make an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). However, there are other motions you can file directly with the BVA to have your decision reconsidered.

BVA decisions are a complex thing. You always hope you are granted, but you do not have to be completely disappointed if you are remanded or denied. There are additional steps you can take.