Appeals

Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE): fixing an old final decision

A rare way to reopen a decision that is already final, with no deadline, if VA made a specific and obvious mistake.

The bar is very high. VA's own rule calls CUE "a very specific and rare kind of error." Disagreeing with how VA weighed your evidence is not enough. Read "What does not count" before you file.

What it is

Once a VA decision is final, you normally cannot reopen it. Clear and unmistakable error (CUE) is the exception. Under 38 CFR 3.105(a), it is an error of fact or of law that, when pointed out to a later reviewer, compels the conclusion, to which reasonable minds could not differ, that the result would have been manifestly different but for the error.

What a win does for you

If VA reverses or revises the old decision because of CUE, the corrected decision has the same effect as if it had been made on the date of the old decision (38 CFR 3.105(a); 38 U.S.C. 5109A). That is how a CUE win can reach back to an earlier effective date. This page does not promise a dollar amount. Your effective date decides what is owed.

When you can ask

There is no deadline. The law says a request "may be made at any time after that decision is made" (38 U.S.C. 5109A). It has to be a decision that is already final. If your appeal window is still open, use the ordinary decision review lanes instead (see the appeal a VA decision page).

Clear and unmistakable error

deadline: no deadline; decision: already final; request: in writing and signed.38 U.S.C. 5109A · Page reviewed September 2026.

What does not count

For Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, the rule (38 CFR 20.1403) says these are not CUE: a new medical diagnosis that differs from the old one, VA failing in its duty to help you gather evidence, and simply disagreeing with how the evidence was weighed.

How to ask, step by step

Pull your file and the old decision letter you say was wrong. Note the date of that decision.
Write your request. It must be in writing and signed (38 CFR 3.105(a)).
Name the specific error: what fact or law was wrongly handled, the legal or factual basis, and why the result would have been manifestly different without it. General complaints are not enough.
If the decision you are challenging is a Board decision, the motion goes to the Board and must also give your name, VA file number and the Board decision date (38 CFR 20.1404).
Keep a copy and proof you sent it. An accredited representative can help you write it (link below).

1Pull your file and the old decision letter you say was wrong. Note the date of that decision.

2Write your request. It must be in writing and signed (38 CFR 3.105(a)).

3Name the specific error: what fact or law was wrongly handled, the legal or factual basis, and why the result would have been mani

4If the decision you are challenging is a Board decision, the motion goes to the Board and must also give your name, VA file number

Traps

A general statement that "the decision was wrong" fails. The error has to be specific.
A regional office decision that was already decided on appeal by the Board or a court cannot be revised by the regional office under 3.105(a).
CUE is not a second look at your evidence. If you have new evidence, that is a different route (Supplemental Claim).

Where to call and where to go

Phone

VA benefits hotline, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET: 1-800-827-1000 (TTY: 711). Source: va.gov/pension and Helpful VA phone numbers (hours).
Veterans Crisis Line, 24/7: 988, then select 1. Source: Helpful VA phone numbers

Official pages

Free accredited help

Find an accredited representative (a VSO representative's help on VA claims is always free; attorneys and claims agents may charge fees)

Sources