VA backdated my claim to a October instead of OG claim date of March.
Context for dates:
I filed for increase in March 2025, had my CNP exam May 2025 and was denied. Filed higher level review in July, denied as well. I knew about the denial sometime in July/August.
Since I knew about the higher level review failing and finding out in the OG claim they never got the medical records from my civilian dr, so on September 26th I filed what I thought was a supplemental claim. I got my medical records together with all the appointments involving what I filed for, the list of meds, etc. The VA scheduled me a CNP in November and I attended.
I checked the claim online in the coming weeks and saw there was no active claim. When I called the VA, the person on the phone said they had no evidence of an active claim and couldn't find proof of the CNP exam I'd taken either.
Because of these issues, I went to see a VSO in Jan 2026. He pulled my filed and saw that the VA had closed my claim on Sept 26th because the higher level review didn't close until Sept 28th, but since I already had a claim and a CNP exam that the VA shouldn't have closed it since it was supplemental. We had a few more meetings, he got all my stuff together and consent and in Feb 2026, he said he filed the claim after our last meeting.
I checked my file later in March and saw nothing. Checked April and saw nothing, so I called my VSO. His exact words were "Sorry, I dropped the ball, I'll file today." April 29th the supplemental claim was filed, decision was made on May 7th. I'm eternally grateful that the decision was positive but the backdate was October (so effective November) instead of March, due to the filing date being 1 year after March, due to my VSO sitting on it for almost 2 months.
All the things I'm seeing online say that because the supplemental claim and CNP exam were in the 1 year period, I should file a higher level review and say that. I called my VSO and said "hey you waited til after the 1 year to file" but he denies thats why.
So long story short, I'm missing 7 months of back pay, most likely due to my VSO completely forgetting to file. Should I go ahead with the higher level review disagreeing with the date due to the CNP exam showing proof it was in the 1 year period?