Claim Raven explanation
What this means
A clothing allowance can apply when a qualifying appliance used for a service-connected disability wears or tears clothing, or prescribed medication for a service-connected skin condition irreparably damages outergarments.
Separate allowances can apply when qualifying items affect different types of clothing. Two allowances can apply to one garment type when multiple qualifying items together cause increased damage. Incarceration beyond 60 days can reduce the allowance when the institution supplies clothing without charge.
How this helps your claim
One or more allowances may be payable depending on the number of qualifying appliances or medications and whether they affect distinct garments or increase damage to the same garment type. Current 38 U.S.C. 1162 provides automatically recurring annual payments subject to continued eligibility and review, so the regulation’s older application language should not be read as requiring every eligible recipient to reapply each year.
What to check in your records
Identify each appliance or medication, the service-connected condition, the garment affected, and the evidence of qualifying wear, tear, or irreparable damage.
- Keep prescriptions, prosthetic records, and the rating decision connecting the underlying disability to service.
- Photograph or describe the type, location, and frequency of clothing damage caused by each appliance or medication.
- Preserve the allowance decision, any continuing-eligibility review, and the current statutory payment information for the applicable year.
Show what causes the damage
Connect the device or medication to a specific garment and repeated damage. Ordinary wear, staining from an unrelated product, or use unconnected to a service-connected disability does not answer the rule.
If VA asks for a continuing-eligibility review, respond with current evidence. Treat the statutory recurring-payment rule and VA’s power to verify ongoing eligibility as parts of the same process.
Must every eligible veteran submit a brand-new application every year?
Current 38 U.S.C. 1162 provides automatically recurring payments until a stopping condition applies, while VA can review continued eligibility. The older regulatory filing language should be read with that controlling statute and current VA instructions.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.810
eCFR snapshot: 2026-09-17. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.810 Clothing allowance.
(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]
Related references
- 38 USC § 1162: VA Clothing Allowance Eligibility
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
Ready to review your own document? Start your free claim review.