To encourage Veterans to file Fully Developed Claims (FDCs), Veterans who file their very first (original) disability compensation claim as an FDC from Aug. 6, 2013 through Aug. 5, 2015 may be authorized up to a year of retroactive benefits if eligibility for compensation is established.  The retroactive benefits are a result of a comprehensive legislative package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.  Filing an FDC is typically the fastest way for Veterans to receive a decision on their claims.

• Because Veterans filing FDCs receive legally mandated notice through the application process and certify that they have submitted all the evidence they have, VA is able to skip a number of steps in the claims process and go straight to ordering any necessary medical examinations and federal records. This allows VA to issue a decision in half the time of a traditional claim, without sacrificing quality.
• Veterans must file FDCs online through eBenefits or on a paper VA Form 21-526 EZ (March 2013).
• FDCs will help eliminate VA’s disability claims backlog by increasing production while decreasing processing time.  Because they can be completed quickly by eliminating much of the development phase of claims processing, VA assigns FDCs a higher priority than many other claims.
• VA is completing its oldest claims first, and through use of mandatory overtime and implementation of other people, process, and technology improvements, VA is on track to meet our overall goal of eliminating the claims backlog in 2015 by deciding all claims within 125 days with 98-percent accuracy.

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