an earlier effective does not sufficiently specify the factual or legal error date” at issue. For information on responding to freestanding requests for an Reference: earlier effective date, see . e. Responding Upon receipt of a freestanding request for an earlier effective date, send the to Freestanding claimant a letter including the following language: Requests for an Earlier We received your request for an earlier effective date. We notified you of our Effective Date [insert contention] [insert date]. prior decision for on Since you did not appeal, the decision is now final. VA cannot accept a request for an earlier effective date on a final regional office decision. However, you may request revision based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) with respect to the assignment of the effective date in the unappealed decision. A CUE is an error that is undebatable in that a reasonable mind can only conclude that the original decision was fatally flawed at the time it was made. For VA to consider your request for revision based on CUE, you must specify the factual or legal error you believe VA made with regard to assigning the effective date in our prior decision. We will take no further action on your request until we receive this information. If the only issue on the claim is the request for an earlier effective date, Note: change the EP to a 400 and do not control for receipt of a response. For more information on revising decisions based on CUE, see Reference: , and . In addition to the notification requirements outlined in and , VA must also, in f. Developing Substantially writing, Complete Applications ask the claimant to identify any records he/she believes are relevant to the claim, and complete VA Form 21-4142, Authorization for Release of Information, where appropriate, which will enable VA to request private medical records on the behalf, and claimant’s inform the claimant if he/she does not respond to the request for information within 30 days of the date of the request, VA may decide the claim based on all the information and evidence of record, and he/she has one year from the date of the request to submit any evidence or information to substantiate the claim. Notes: Adequate identification of records by the claimant would normally include
an earlier effective date” does not sufficiently specify the factual or legal error at issue. Reference: For information on responding to freestanding requests for an earlier effective date, see . e. Responding to Freestanding Requests for an Earlier Effective Date Upon receipt of a freestanding request for an earlier effective date, send the claimant a letter including the following language: We received your request for an earlier effective date. We notified you of our prior decision for [insert contention] on [insert date]. Since you did not appeal, the decision is now final. VA cannot accept a request for an earlier effective date on a final regional office decision. However, you may request revision based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) with respect to the assignment of the effective date in the unappealed decision. A CUE is an error that is undebatable in that a reasonable mind can only conclude that the original decision was fatally flawed at the time it was made. For VA to consider your request for revision based on CUE, you must specify the factual or legal error you believe VA made with regard to assigning the effective date in our prior decision. We will take no further action on your request until we receive this information. Note: If the only issue on the claim is the request for an earlier effective date, change the EP to a 400 and do not control for receipt of a response. Reference: For more information on revising decisions based on CUE, see , and . f. Developing Substantially Complete Applications In addition to the notification requirements outlined in and , VA must also, in writing, ask the claimant to identify any records he/she believes are relevant to the claim, and complete VA Form 21-4142, Authorization for Release of Information, where appropriate, which will enable VA to request private medical records on the claimant’s behalf, and inform the claimant if he/she does not respond to the request for information within 30 days of the date of the request, VA may decide the claim based on all the information and evidence of record, and he/she has one year from the date of the request to submit any evidence or information to substantiate the claim. Notes: Adequate identification of records by the claimant would normally include