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Lost, Not Forgotten: The VA Appeals Settlement

Jul 10
4 min read

Updated: Jul 23



For thousands of veterans and their families, silence from the VA didn't mean their case was still under review. It meant a computer glitch had quietly closed their appeal years — sometimes decades — ago, and no one ever told them. That's about to change for more than 90,000 people.


What Happened


A proposed class-action settlement in Freund v. Collins is forcing the Department of Veterans Affairs to go back through decades of disability appeals that were wrongly shut down by its own tracking system, the Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS). The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims certified the case as a class action on March 18, 2026, and it covers appeals closed between December 12, 1990, and February 6, 2025.


Here's how it happened. Under the VA's old "legacy" appeals process, a veteran who disagreed with a decision would file a Notice of Disagreement, receive a Statement of the Case, and then submit a Substantive Appeal to send the case to the Board of Veterans' Appeals. Once that appeal was filed, a VA employee had to log it into VACOLS. On the first of every month, VACOLS automatically closed any appeal that didn't show a timely Substantive Appeal on file.


The problem was human error upstream, not the veterans'. On average, it took the VA 43 days to log incoming documents — time enough for a document that hadn't been scanned yet, a wrong receipt date, or misfiled paperwork to make a properly filed appeal look, to the computer, like no appeal at all. VACOLS closed the case and sent the veteran no notice whatsoever. Veterans simply assumed their case was still moving through the Board's notoriously long queue. Some have been waiting more than 30 years for an answer that was never coming.


Army veteran Marvin Mathewson lived — and died — this exact scenario. He filed a claim for special monthly compensation, the benefit for veterans who need help with basic daily living, and the VA denied it. In December 2017, he filed his Substantive Appeal on time. VACOLS closed his case anyway. He died three years later, still waiting on a decision that was never coming. His widow, Mary Mathewson, took over the fight in his place, and the case that bears her name alongside fellow plaintiff Mark Freund — Freund v. Collins, Case No. 21-4168 — is now bringing relief to tens of thousands of others.


Who's Covered


The settlement splits impacted veterans into two groups:

Nearly 28,300 veterans (28,258, to be precise) have strong indicators their appeals were wrongly closed. The VA will manually audit these files and reactivate valid appeals automatically.


Up to 64,599 additional veterans have weaker indicators. These veterans will get individualized letters and will need to respond and specifically request a review of their file. The VA began sending these notices in April 2026.


A federal court — the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims — is set to hold a fairness hearing on August 13, 2026, to decide whether to make the settlement final.


What It Means If You're Affected


If a reactivated appeal succeeds, back pay can go all the way to the original filing date — even if that was in 1990. Appeals don't start over; they resume exactly where they stopped.

Surviving spouses and dependents can keep a deceased veteran's claim alive through substitution, just as Mary Mathewson did.


If you get a letter referencing Freund v. Collins, Case No. 21-4168 — don't ignore it, even if the appeal it's about is 25 years old. For many veterans, that letter may be the only signal they'll ever get that their appeal was wrongly closed.


Old claims that get reactivated will generally need updated medical evidence and a current disability rating to move forward, so it's worth talking to a Veteran Service Officer, accredited attorney, or claims advocate as soon as a notice arrives.


Why This Matters


Behind every one of those 90,000 files is someone who did everything right — filed on time, followed the process — and got nothing but silence in return. Some never lived to see the outcome. This settlement won't undo those years of waiting, but it's a chance to finally close the loop for the veterans and families who are still owed an answer.


If you or someone you know served and has an old VA appeal that seemed to vanish into thin air, this is worth following closely. Check your mail. Ask questions. And don't let another year of silence go by without following up.

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