This case involves veterans whose legacy administrative appeals were automatically and erroneously closed by VA's Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS) due to what the court calls "an automated sweeping function." After years of litigation, including a trip to the Federal Circuit and back, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims certified a class on March 18, 2026.
The class is defined narrowly and specifically: it covers "all claimants with an appeal file in [VACOLS] that has been closed in the period between December 12, 1990, and February 6, 2025, due to the lack of a timely filed Substantive Appeal and which appeal remains closed." If your legacy appeal was closed in that window because VA said you didn't file a timely Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9), and it is still closed, you may fall within this class.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Analyze my claim free →The order states that the parties reached a proposed settlement agreement that "provides a detailed process and timeline for auditing VA's files to locate appeals that were wrongly closed in VACOLS, as well as procedures for reactivating those appeals." This means VA has agreed to a systematic audit process to find these wrongly closed appeals and reactivate them — but the settlement is described only in summary; the court explicitly says it does "not purport to describe here" the full agreement.
As of the order, class notice had been sent to class members as of April 15, 2026, according to a May 21, 2026 filing. The source text does not say what the notice instructed recipients to do, whether individual action is required to benefit from the settlement, or when the audit and reactivation process will actually begin or conclude. It also does not state whether the settlement provides for backdated effective dates or retroactive benefits — that detail is not in this text.
If you had a legacy appeal that VA closed for an allegedly late-filed Substantive Appeal at any point between December 12, 1990, and February 6, 2025, and it is still marked closed, check whether you received a class notice, and if not, contact class counsel or VA to ask whether your appeal falls within the certified class and what the audit process requires of you now.
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