VA Form 21P-0970 will be used by the
claimant to initiate an appeal by indicating disagreement with a
decision issued by a VA Regional Office (RO) specifically related
to a claim for VA pension benefits, dependency and indemnity
compensation (DIC) benefits, burial benefits, and accrued benefits.
VA Form 21P-0970 will be the claimant’s first step in the appeal
process. The respondent may or may not continue with an appeal to
the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA). If the claimant opts to
continue to BVA for an appeal, this form will be included in the
claim folder as evidence. VA will provide VA Form 21P-0970 to the
claimant with the notification letter of the decision in paper form
or via hyperlink to VA’s website. The use of VA Form 21P-0970 will
be mandatory when claimants initiate an appeal of a decision
regarding pension, DIC, burial, or accrued claims for benefits.
Currently, VBA does not have a mandatory form which would enable
the claimant to initiate an appeal of a decision made regarding
entitlement to pension, DIC, burial, or accrued benefits. As a
result, claimants may provide their notice of disagreement in any
format. The variety of submissions hampers efforts to identify, and
process timely, the claimant’s appeal. With the implementation of
this collection, the submissions will be standardized, increasing
efficiency.
US Code:
38
USC 7105 Name of Law: Filing of Notice of Disagreement and
Appeal
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.