of October 15, 2013.

The current effective date of the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss is October 15, 2013, the date that the Veteran's informal claim was received by VA.  As stated above when a formal claim is received within one year of an informal claim the effective date will be the date of receipt of the informal claim.  In the instant case the Veteran's formal claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was received within four month from the date of his informal claim.  Therefore the proper effective date is October 15, 2013, the date VA received the Veteran's informal claim.

Review of the record does not reveal any claims, informal or formal, for service connection for bilateral hearing loss prior to October 15, 2013.occupations for more than 30 years."  At the Veteran's June 2016 VA examination the examiner opined that the functional impact of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss precludes him from communicating "at all."  The RO issued a rating decision in November 2016 denying entitlement to a TDIU because the Veteran had failed to return the requested documentation of his employment history.  

As stated above, during the period on appeal the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss was increased from 50 to 70 percent disabling effective September 3, 2014.  The Veteran's only service-connected disability is bilateral hearing loss.  With the increase to 70 percent disabling the Veteran has met the disability level to be considered for entitlement to a TDIU on a schedular basis.  38