Citation Nr: 1322813	
Decision Date: 07/17/13    Archive Date: 07/24/13

DOCKET NO.  09-41 982	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Montgomery, Alabama


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss disability, currently evaluated as noncompensably disabling.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	The American Legion


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

J. Barone, Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from October 1944 to June 1946.

This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Montgomery, Alabama.

The claim was previously remanded in June 2012 for additional development.  
 
Unfortunately, in order to afford the Veteran due process, the appeal is once again REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required.


REMAND

The Veteran's claim for service connection was most recently remanded by the Board in June 2012 for further development.  The Board directed that VA, in part, request that the Veteran provide permission for VA to obtain information and additional records from the private facility that provided the May 2008 private audiological evaluation to clarify aspects of the report and to obtain any additional records from the facility identified by the Veteran.  

The Appeals Management Center (AMC) sent the Veteran a letter in June 2012 to his last known address of record requesting information and authorization as delineated above.  The Veteran did not respond.  It is also noted that there is no indication the letter was returned as undeliverable.  The AMC readjudicated the claim and issued a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) in January 2013.  However, the SSOC was sent to an address that was not the last known address of record.  The SSOC was returned as undeliverable with a notation that the U.S. Postal Service was unable to forward the SSOC.

In a July 2, 2013 e-mail, the Veteran asked that his address be corrected to the last known address of record (i.e., not the address to which the SSOC was sent).  

To ensure that the Veteran has been afforded all possible due process, the RO must send the SSOC to the Veteran's last known address of record (i.e., the one he reported as correct in his July 2, 2013 e-mail).  

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

Send the January 2013 SSOC to the last known address of record, which is the address that the Veteran identified as correct in his e-mail of July 2, 2013.  Afford the Veteran and his representative an opportunity to respond before returning the case to the Board.  

The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded.  Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999).

This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment.  The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.  See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2012).



_________________________________________________
S.S. TOTH
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.  This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2012).