VA denied your claim. Your first instinct might be to refile — don’t. Refiling resets the clock on your effective date, which is the date that determines how far back VA pays your retroactive benefits. Instead, appeal the denial. Under the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), you have three lanes. Choosing the right one depends on your situation.
Lane 1: Supplemental Claim
Use this lane when you have new and relevant evidence that wasn’t part of your original claim — a new nexus letter from a private physician, new buddy statements, additional medical records. VA must consider evidence it hasn’t seen before. This is the most common appeal path and often the most effective when you have a solid medical nexus letter that the original claim was missing. The Supplemental Claim lane is also the lane to use after a denial based on a weak C&P examiner opinion — bring your own medical evidence to counter it.
Lane 2: Higher-Level Review
Use this lane when you believe VA made a clear error — applied the wrong diagnostic code, ignored evidence already in your file, or made a procedural mistake. A more senior VA reviewer looks at the same record. You cannot submit new evidence in this lane. But you can request an informal conference call with the reviewer to identify what you believe was overlooked. This lane is best when the original decision was factually or legally wrong, not when the evidence was just thin.
Lane 3: Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA)
Use this lane when the first two lanes haven’t worked, or when you want a Veterans Law Judge to decide your case. BVA has three sub-options: direct review (no new evidence or argument, faster); evidence submission (new evidence without a hearing); or hearing request (you appear before a judge in person or by video). BVA cases take longer — often 1–2 years — but they give you access to independent legal review and the ability to argue your case directly. If your claim involves complex legal questions or a long timeline of denied appeals, BVA may be the right lane.
Your effective date: why it matters so much
Your effective date is the date your retroactive payment starts when you win. If you file a Supplemental Claim within one year of the denial, your effective date preserves back to your original claim date. If you refile a brand new claim, you lose that protection. Never abandon an effective date carelessly — the difference between preserving and losing your original effective date can be years of retroactive pay worth tens of thousands of dollars.