Citation Nr: A21020491 Decision Date: 12/23/21 Archive Date: 12/23/21 DOCKET NO. 210818-178927 DATE: December 23, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2021 for an electric wheelchair is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is prescribed the use of an electric wheelchair for his service-connected degenerative changes, thoracic and lumbosacral spine with degenerative disc disease and sciatica, which wears and tears his outergarments. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for one annual clothing allowance for 2021 for an electric wheelchair have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810 REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from September 1962 to June 1983. The decision on appeal was issued in August 2021 by a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN), and constitutes an initial decision; therefore, the modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), applies. In the September 2021 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal, the Veteran elected the Evidence Submission docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) decision on appeal, as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or his representative with, or within 90 days from receipt of, the VA Form 10182. 38 C.F.R. § 20.303. Entitlement to one annual clothing allowance for 2021 for an electric wheelchair is granted. 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 which VA determines tends to wear out or tear the clothing, or uses prescribed medication for a service-connected skin disability which causes irreparable damage to the outergarments. 38 U.S.C. § 1162. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.810, a veteran is found to be eligible for an annual clothing allowance when (i) A VA examination or VA medical report establishes that the veteran, because of a service-connected disability due to loss or loss of use of a hand or foot uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance which tends to wear or tear clothing; (ii) the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that a veteran, because of a service-connected disability, wears or uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) which tends to wear or tear clothing; or (iii) the Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that a veteran, because of a service-connected disability, uses medication prescribed by a physician for a skin condition that causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outergarments. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1). When such determinations are appealed to the Board, the Board can serve as the VHA designee to adjudicate whether a clothing allowance is warranted. A second clothing allowance is potentially available for a single type of garment if a veteran uses more than one prosthetic or orthopedic appliance, medication for more than one skin condition, or an appliance and a medication, and the appliances or medications (i) satisfy the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1); and (ii) together tend to wear or tear a single garment or irreparably damage a type of outergarment at an increased rate of damage to the clothing due to a second appliance or medication. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(3). A veteran may not receive more than one clothing allowance for a single appliance, even if the appliance damages more than one type of clothing. See 76 Fed. Reg. 70883 (November 16, 2011). The Veteran seeks an annual clothing allowance for 2021 for wear and tear caused by his prescribed electric wheelchair. The AOJ denied the claim on the basis that no evidence of a prescription or issuance of an electric wheelchair was found in the records. With his VA Form 10182, the Veteran submitted a receipt/delivery ticket from Wheelchair & Walker Rentals, Inc. demonstrating delivery of a Pride Jet 7 electric wheelchair in August 2017. The Board additionally notes that the Veteran has received one annual clothing allowance payment for the wheelchair every year from at least 2008 through 2020. [continued on next page] The Veteran's electric wheelchair is prescribed for a service-connected disability and, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, is found to tend to wear and tear the Veteran's clothing. The Veteran thus qualifies for an award of a clothing allowance for 2021 for the electric wheelchair, and a grant of the benefit sought is warranted. MICHAEL MARTIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Solomon, 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.