Citation Nr: 21003422
Decision Date: 01/21/21	Archive Date: 01/21/21

DOCKET NO. 15-89 813A
DATE: January 21, 2021

ORDER

A clothing allowance for the benefit year 2015 is denied.

(The issues of entitlement to service connection for a right hand disability, whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen the previously denied claim of entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, and entitlement to a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss were addressed in a separate decision dated December 30, 2020)

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran is not service connected for a left knee or back disability.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for a clothing allowance for the benefit year 2015 are not met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1976 to June 1996, including service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.

This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2015 determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

In August 2020, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned.  A transcript of the hearing is of record.

Clothing Allowance

The law provides for payment of an annual clothing allowance for each veteran who, because of a service-connected disability, wears or uses a prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including a wheelchair) which VA determines tends to wear out or tear the clothing of the veteran, or uses medication which a physician has prescribed for a skin condition which is due to a service-connected disability and VA determines causes irreparable damage to the veteran’s outer garments.  38 U.S.C. § 1162.

In the instant case, the Veteran is seeking a clothing allowance for wear and tear caused by back and left knee braces.  See August 2020 Board Hearing Tr. at 18-19; December 2015 VA Form 9; June 2015 Notice of Disagreement; December 2014 VA Form 1-8678.  However, the Veteran is not currently service-connected for left knee or back disabilities.  As a clothing allowance is only warranted for prosthetic or orthopedic devices worn or used because of service-connected disability, the Board must deny the Veteran’s claim.  38 U.S.C. § 1162.

Although the Veteran’s current claim must be denied as a matter of law, the Veteran may file a claim for service connection for his left knee and back at any time.  Indeed, the Veteran presently has an active claim regarding service connection for a back disability which was remanded by the Board in a separate decision issued in December 2020.  Should a claim for service connection for a left knee or back disability be granted in the future, he may then be eligible for a clothing allowance, provided that other criteria are met.

 

 

S.C. KREMBS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	N.S. Pettine, Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.