Citation Nr: A25035251
Decision Date: 04/16/25	Archive Date: 04/16/25

DOCKET NO. 210621-167083
DATE: April 16, 2025

REMANDED

Entitlement to an annual clothing allowance for the calendar year 2020 is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served honorably on active duty from March 1983 to July 1991.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2020 decision of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). 

In the June 2021 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), 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. If evidence was submitted either (1) during the period after the AOJ issued the decision on appeal and prior to the date the Board received the VA Form 10182, or (2) more than 90 days following the date the Board received the VA Form 10182, the Board did not consider it in its decision. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.303, 20.801. 

However, because the Board is remanding the claim, any evidence the Board could not consider will be considered by the AOJ in the adjudication of those claims. 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(c)(2)(ii).

Entitlement to an annual clothing allowance for the calendar year 2020 is remanded.

The record is missing a significant amount of documentation concerning a clothing allowance for calendar year 2020. The claims file does not contain a copy of the initial claims application, any applicable notice letters, or any pre-decisional evidence submitted or developed in relation to the claim. The substantive decision by the VHA is also missing from the claims file. 

As these pertinent documents are missing from the file, the Board does not have a complete record on which basis it can fulfill its statutory and regulatory duty to render a decision on the Veteran's claim. Therefore, remand is warranted for the AOJ to reconstruct the record and associate with the claims file all relevant clothing allowance records. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Associate with the electronic claim file all evidence considered in connection with the claim on appeal.

The record should include (but is not limited to): the Veteran's application for a clothing allowance for 2020, the associated 2020 VHA decision, and any other relevant documents received or generated in connection with the claim, to include any VHA or prosthetics records.

2. If any such records are unable to be located, the AOJ should make a formal finding of unavailability and provide the appellant with notice of the unavailability of records.

 

 

D. SMART

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Jack, J.

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.