Clear and Unmistakable Error/CUE

Pursuant to 38 CFR § 20.1403, a “Clear and unmistakable error is a very specific and rare kind of error. It is the kind of error, of fact or of law, that when called to the attention of later reviewers compels the conclusion, to which reasonable minds could not differ, that the result would have been manifestly different but for the error. Generally, either the correct facts, as they were known at the time, were not before the Board, or the statutory and regulatory provisions extant at the time were incorrectly applied.”

In layman’s terms, a clear and unmistakable error, often referred to as a CUE,  is an error where all the facts that were known at the time of the decision, in accordance with the rules and regulations in effect at the time of the decision, were applied incorrectly.  It must be an error made with the evidence of record being in the VA’s possession at the time of their decision.  The Vet Resource Group team consists of experts trained in identifying VA Disability CUEs. We are ready to assist you in spotting a CUE.

A CUE can result in huge awards of retroactive benefits.  The effective date of a CUE goes all the way back to the filing date of the claim with the CUE, potentially scoring a windfall of “found money” for the veteran. 

Reviewing previous VA decisions and medical records for a potential CUE is done on every case we handle and is included in our Record Review and Strategy Consult fee.

These cases can be complex and should be handled by a qualified accredited attorney or agent.  If a CUE is discovered, we will place you with an attorney or agent within our Network to assess and handle your CUE claim. The attorneys and accredited agents in our network charge contingency fees, which is a reasonable percentage of any backpayment received from the VA. If you are unsuccessful, you don’t owe them a thing. If you sign up with the attorney we placed you with there is no fee to you for placing you with that attorney or accredited agent. 

If you choose to attempt to handle the CUE on your own, we will release our findings to you for a fee. However, we caution any Veteran from filing their own CUE as the VA only allows one claim for a CUE on a specific issue. With that in mind, it’s best to have an expert file the CUE properly.