Citation Nr: 18149854
Decision Date: 11/13/18	Archive Date: 11/13/18

DOCKET NO. 16-40 173
DATE:	November 13, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to an effective date of October 5, 2015, but not earlier, for the grant of service connection for scar, bridge of nose (previously claimed as facial disfigurement), is granted.  
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran filed an informal claim for entitlement to service connection for facial disfiguration that was received by VA on October 5, 2015.  
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to an effective date of October 5, 2015, but no earlier, for the grant of service connection for scar, bridge of nose, have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5107, 5110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from February 1986 to June 1995.  
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2016 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Lincoln, Nebraska.    
Additionally, the Veteran has claimed entitlement to service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  However, the Veteran has requested a hearing before the Board and therefore, that issue will be discussed in a separate Board decision following the Veteran’s hearing.  
Earlier Effective Date
According to applicable law and regulation, except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an award of compensation based upon an original claim will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.  38 U.S.C. § 5110(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400 (2018).  The date of entitlement to an award of service connection will be the day following separation from active service or the date entitlement arose if the claim is received within one year after separation from service.  Otherwise, the effective date will be the date of receipt of the claim, or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.  38 C.F.R. § 3.400(b)(2)(i).
In this case, the Veteran filed a formal claim of entitlement to service connection for scar, bridge of nose, which was received by VA on December 14, 2015.  The claim was granted in a March 2016 rating decision, effective December 14, 2105.  The effective date was chosen as it was the date in which VA received the Veteran’s claim.  
A January 2014 rating decision granted service connection for nasal fracture.  In a correspondence received by VA on October 5, 2015, the Veteran indicated that he wanted, in pertinent part, an earlier effective date and a 30 percent disability rating for facial disfiguration resulting from his nasal fracture.  It appears that the RO did not acknowledge the October 2015 correspondence as a claim for entitlement to service connection.  Rather, the RO took action on the subsequent December 2015 claim for service connection.  However, the Board will liberally construe the October 2015 correspondence as an informal claim for entitlement to service connection for facial disfiguration.  
As noted above, the effective date of service connection will be the later of either the date of claim or the date entitlement arose, when the claim is received more than one year following separation from service.  38 C.F.R. § 3.400.  Here, while the Veteran reports that he experienced scar, bridge of nose, since as early as his separation from service, his informal claim for service connection for the claim on appeal was received by VA on October 5, 2015.  Moreover, the Board does not find that any formal or informal claims for scar, bridge of nose, to include facial disfiguration, were filed before October 5, 2015.    
Therefore, the October 5, 2015 date of receipt of the informal claim is the appropriate effective date.  As there is no formal or informal claim of record prior to October 5, 2015, the Board finds an effective date earlier than October 5, 2015 is not warranted.  
 
L. BARSTOW
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. O’Donnell, Associate Counsel