Claim Raven explanation
What this means
VA may waive recovery of a benefit overpayment when there is no fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith and collection would be against equity and good conscience.
The one-year period can be extended when VA or postal error, or another circumstance beyond the debtor’s control, delayed receipt beyond the time normally required for mailing. If that delay is substantiated, the period runs from actual receipt.
How this helps your claim
A waiver addresses collection of an established debt. It is different from disputing whether the debt exists or whether VA calculated it correctly. For notices covered by this current rule, a written waiver request must generally be made within one year after VA issues the notice of indebtedness, subject to the delayed-receipt exception described in the rule.
What to check in your records
Confirm the date of the notice of indebtedness, the date you actually received it, and the facts relevant to the equity-and-good-conscience factors in section 1.965.
- Keep the first debt notice and reliable proof of when it was issued and received.
- Gather a current, accurate picture of income, necessary expenses, assets, and household needs if hardship is part of the request.
- Document VA’s role, your actions, any reliance on the payments, and why recovery would defeat the benefit’s purpose or create another listed equity concern.
Support both timing and fairness
State that you are requesting waiver, identify the debt, and explain the relevant fairness factors with documents. A general statement that repayment is difficult is less informative than a clear budget and records showing essential household costs.
If you also believe the debt is invalid, say so separately and explain the calculation or factual error. A waiver request does not by itself resolve whether the underlying debt was correctly created.
Is the waiver deadline still 180 days?
The current text of section 1.963 provides one year after the notice of indebtedness, with a possible extension for qualifying delayed receipt. Use the date and instructions in the actual notice and verify that the current rule applies to it.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 1.963
eCFR snapshot: 2026-09-17. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 1.963 Waiver; other than loan guaranty.
(a) General. Recovery of overpayments of any benefits made under laws administered by the VA shall be waived if there is no indication of fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith on the part of the person or persons having an interest in obtaining the waiver and recovery of the indebtedness from the payee who received such benefits would be against equity and good conscience.
(b) Application. A request for waiver of an indebtedness under this section shall only be considered if made within one year following the date of a notice of indebtedness issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs to the debtor. The one-year period may be extended if the individual requesting waiver demonstrated to the Chairperson of the Committee on Waivers and Compromises that, as a result of an error by either the Department of Veterans Affairs or the postal authorities, or due to other circumstances beyond the debtor's control, there was a delay in such individual's receipt of the notification of indebtedness beyond the time customarily required for mailing (including forwarding). If the requester does substantiate that there was such a delay in the receipt of the notice of indebtedness, the Chairperson shall direct that the one-year period be computed from the date of the requester's actual receipt of the notice of indebtedness.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 5302(a) and (c); Pub. L. 117-328, Title II, Subtitle E, sec. 254 (Dec. 29, 2022), unless otherwise noted)
[39 FR 26400, July 19, 1974, as amended at 44 FR 59906, Oct. 17, 1979; 48 FR 27400, June 15, 1983; 50 FR 38803, Sept. 25, 1985; 58 FR 3840, Jan. 12, 1993; 90 FR 54235, Nov. 26, 2025]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 1.911: What a VA benefit debt notice must explain
- 38 CFR § 1.965: How VA applies equity and good conscience to debt waivers
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