38 C.F.R. § 3.810

Clothing allowance

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(a) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, a veteran who has a service-connected disability, or a disability compensable under 38 U.S.C. 1151 as if it were service connected, is entitled, upon application therefore, to an annual clothing allowance, which is payable in a lump sum, as specified in this paragraph.

(1) One clothing allowance. A veteran is entitled to one annual clothing allowance if—

(i) A VA examination or a hospital or examination report from a facility specified in § 3.326(b) establishes that the veteran, because of a service-connected disability or disabilities due to loss or loss of use of a hand or foot compensable at a rate specified in § 3.350(a), (b), (c), (d), or (f), wears or uses one qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) which tends to wear or tear clothing; or

(ii) The Under Secretary for Health or a designee certifies that—

(A) A veteran, because of a service-connected disability or disabilities, wears or uses one qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) which tends to wear or tear clothing; or

(B) A veteran uses medication prescribed by a physician for one skin condition, which is due to a service-connected disability, that causes irreparable damage to the veteran's outergarments.

(2) More than one clothing allowance; multiple types of garments affected. A veteran is entitled to an annual clothing allowance for each prosthetic or orthopedic appliance (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair) or medication used by the veteran if each appliance or medication—

(i) Satisfies the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section; and

(ii) Affects a distinct type of article of clothing or outergarment.

(3) Two clothing allowances; single type of garment affected. A veteran is entitled to two annual clothing allowances if a veteran uses more than one prosthetic or orthopedic appliance, (including, but not limited to, a wheelchair), medication for more than one skin condition, or an appliance and a medication, and the appliance(s) or medication(s)—

(i) Each satisfy the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section; and

(ii) Together tend to wear or tear a single type of article of clothing or irreparably damage a type of outergarment at an increased rate of damage to the clothing or outergarment due to a second appliance or medication.

(b) Effective August 1, 1972, the initial lump sum clothing allowance is due and payable for veterans meeting the eligibility requirements of paragraph (a) of this section as of that date. Subsequent annual payments for those meeting the eligibility requirements of paragraphs (a) of this section will become due on the anniversary date thereafter, both as to initial claims and recurring payments under previously established entitlement.

(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, the application for clothing allowance must be filed within 1 year of the anniversary date (August 1) for which entitlement is initially established, otherwise, the application will be acceptable only to effect payment of the clothing allowance becoming due on any succeeding anniversary date for which entitlement is established, provided the application is filed within 1 year of such date. The 1-year period for filing application will include the anniversary date and terminate on July 31 of the following year.

(2) Where the initial determination of service connection for the qualifying disability is made subsequent to an anniversary date for which entitlement is established, the application for clothing allowance may be filed within 1 year from the date of notification to the veteran of such determination.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1162)

(d) If a veteran is incarcerated in a Federal, State, or local penal institution for a period of more than 60 days and is furnished clothing without charge by the institution, VA shall reduce the amount of the annual clothing allowance by 1/365th of the amount otherwise payable for each day the veteran was incarcerated during the 12-month period preceding the anniversary date for which entitlement is established. No reduction shall be made for the first 60 days of incarceration.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 5313A) [37 FR 19134, Sept. 19, 1972, as amended at 39 FR 2362, Jan. 21, 1974; 49 FR 28242, July 11, 1984; 56 FR 5756, Feb. 13, 1991; 62 FR 35422, July 1, 1997; 76 FR 70885, Nov. 16, 2011; 77 FR 34218, June 11, 2012]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2007–2021 · leading case: Sursely v. Peake, 551 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Sursely v. Peake, 551 F.3d 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009). · cites it 3× “The Director also found support for this interpretation in the implementing regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.810 , which “mirrored” the statutory language.”

James E. Sursely v. James B. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 21 (Vet. App. 2007). · cites it 6× “§ 1162 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.810 (2003) did not allow for the payment of more than one clothing allowance per veteran, per year.”

200714-170373 (Board of Vet. App. 2021). · cites it 5× “§§ 1162 , 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.810 . REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1953 to May 1979.”

Modrowski v. McDonough (Fed. Cir. 2021). · cites it 3× “In July 2017, Modrowski applied for an annual clothing allowance for the 2017 calendar year pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.810 . In part relevant to this appeal, § 3.”

14-23 711 (Board of Vet. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “38 C.F.R. § 3.810 (a)(1). Review of the record reveals that the Veteran is not service connected for a back disability; so the first element under 38 C.”

18-17 770 (Board of Vet. App. 2019). · cites it 2× “§§ 1162 , 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.810 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from June 1967 to January 1984.”

12-57 547 (Board of Vet. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “38 C.F.R. § 3.810 (2015). In September 2015, the Board remanded the case to the AOJ for additional development, including obtaining relevant treatment records and adding them to the claims file, and action by the appropriate VAMC and the Under Secretary.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.