A Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE) claim is a way to challenge an old VA rating decision that has become final. If you can show that VA made an obvious error of fact or law in a previous decision that would have changed the outcome if corrected, you can get the decision revised and potentially receive retroactive benefits back to the original effective date. CUE is a very high standard. You must show that the correct facts, as they were known at the time, were not before the adjudicator or that the law was incorrectly applied. A disagreement with how VA weighed the evidence is not CUE. A new medical opinion that interprets old evidence differently is not CUE. The error must be undebatable, meaning that reasonable minds could not differ on the correct outcome given the facts and law at the time. Examples of CUE include VA failing to apply a directly applicable regulation, ignoring evidence that was clearly in the file at the time of the decision, or making an arithmetic error in calculating combined ratings. If you believe a previous decision contains CUE, identify the specific error with precision. Vague allegations that the decision was wrong are not sufficient. CUE claims can be filed at any time and there is no deadline, but they require careful legal analysis.
Note: This article references sections of the VA's M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual. The VA periodically reorganizes the M21-1 and section numbers may have changed since this article was written. For the most current section references, visit the VA's public M21-1 Web Automated Reference Material System (WARMS).