bakerkd

Berra, they did my initial claim without my SMR's. They granted a reconsideration of ALL using the SMR's but "forgot" to address one of the contentions. I filed the NOD on the reconsideration. during reconsideration I sent in 128 pages of N&M evidence just for that contention. That contention was not addressed at all. It has never been rated against ANY medical records at all

Ok thanks. I'm still a bit confused. VA is saying NOD not filed within 1 year of denial and technically that's true. I NOD'd the reconsideration which ate up nearly 8 months of my appeal time. I almost didn't even notice it was left out. The reconsideration was all new and material since my SMR's weren't even looked at. I submitted an additional 128 pages of new and material within that year as well.

Going to try to keep this long saga short. Filed initial claim July 10 and received decision Oct 11. Virtually everything denied since SMR's magically disappeared sometime after Nov 10. Overnighted my copy of SMRs about a week before decision but they just sat in VARO mailroom. I requested a reconsideration of all contentions due to being rated without records that, were in fact, in VA's possession. Reconsideration granted for all and got improved ratings for most. This was in Apr 2012. After scouring the decision letter I noticed that one of the contentions wasn't addressed It was just left out of decision all together. I filed NOD in February 13 after searching for as much medical evidence as possible. Now fast forward to today. 40 months into my NOD/ DRO I get letter stating that the contention that was left off my reconsideration in Apr 12 cannot be considered in NOD because the 1 year statutory appeal period was exceeded. Basically, even though they granted a reconsideration, I couldn't appeal the contention that was left out because the date of decision was the first denial of service connection, done without any SMR's. I sent them a cordial message in IRIS stating that the NOD was for the reconsideration of ALL contentions but that they were in error for omitting it in deciscion letter and that the date of denial should be Apr 2012 based on their CUE. Regardless of whether they consider it with the NOD, where the hell is my rating? They have had new and material evidence for 5 years and have had a reconsideration and a NOD requesting it be eval'd. To this date they have never matched my SMR's including new and material to this contention. I now have 6 years invested in this. Should I wait and see if they magically admit they screwed up or file a new claim and spend 5 or 6 more years trying to get effective date fixed? Any suggestions?

Incompetent By Va Standards. I had to laugh when I read the title of the thread. Pot calling Kettle......come in kettle

I requested a certificate of eligibility for VA home loan. It was issued on 20 Oct and does not reflect 70% assigned on 11 Oct. I'm not so sure that is the most reliable method for finding out your current disability rating

No TDIU. Just trying to get a fair shake on what I claimed

Sent request for reconsideration. Stated that I responded to the "10 Day letter" and provided STR's before 10 day suspense. Mentioned that STR's had been in possession of the VARO for 4 weeks prior to the decision date and that they acknowledged receipt on that date.

I recieved the 10 day letter and immediately notified them that I was sending in STR's. The had them within 3 days of their 10 day letter. They state on the evidence page that they didnt have STR's and then denied loads saying there was no evidence. My ebenefitts shows the notification i sent in response to 10 day letter and then shows receipt of STR's 2 days later. The claim is still open because I have one deferred item

I know that I diagnosis isnt made at a C&P. The diagnosis and years of treatment are in STR's. I actually had noncompensables assigned 0%, how do you determine severity without medical evidence or a C&P?They actually stated my condition was mild and what i would need to get a compensable rating, how was the rater able to determine that?

And how would they know that without doing a C&P or reviewing my STR's? That would be the whole "evidence" of a current diagnosed condition. They rated my claim without my STR's and only rated me on the few items they bothered to send me to a C&P exam for. I have an incurable neuro condition, its in my STR's but I never was sent to a Neuro C&P. There is ample evidence in my STRs but because they didn't review it then i guess it doesnt exist. Does that mean I'm cured? I understand what you are trying to say but I think you are missing the point. If they reviewed my evidence and determined it was acute with no residuals then I would buy what you are saying, unfortunately that is not what happened in this case

Got my decision today was rated 70%. Was reading through and amazed at all of the "no evidence of current diagnosed disability" and I was flabbergasted. Looked at evidence section and it shows "Memorandum of unavailability of service treatment records" Here is the kicker; I sent them my STR's which they acknowledge they recieved on 15 Sep and then on 13 Oct they rated me without using my STR's. Is that a CUE? NOD? Can it be new and material if they had it in their possesion for a month prior to decision? I'm confused and a little upset. Not too upset though, I hit 70% without any records. I knew something was up; I just sent in an NCS study showing moderate radial nerve impingement which has been referred for surgery and they gave me a noncompensable and told me it needed to at least be mild to get a 10%. It was mild.... in 1998... now its moderate. UGGHHHHHH

Something fishey going on methinks. I called Peggy to notify that (I will provide STR's) since VA couldnt get them. I asked young lady "how did we manage to get 13 months into this claim without having STR's?, oh and by the way I was told on 2 Nov 10 that you had them already on file" She put me on hold to look through notes. Low and behold there is a note from 26 October 10 showing that STR's were received and are on file. Ok I ask, what is going on? Peggy says we must be missing something from your STR's. Like what I ask? Don't know she says. If you have copies of your STR's you should just mail them in. So I tell her ...of course I will. So VA sends me a letter telling me they never received records 13 months into claim and now when pressed on the issue admit they have had them for nearly a year......Sounds like somebody is stalling. I will send in records anyway but I honestly think someone is trying to play "suspense games" at the VARO or they lost my STR's

I'm fully aware that a claim cannot be tracked like a fedex package. I'm also fully aware that if/when a mistake is made it is best to correct it immediately. I pay attention and ask questions repeatedly and the past 13 months have been a waste of time. Now my additional evidence, as in the ONLY evidence will certainly require additional development. You shouldn't have to be an expert, neither should I...WE ARE THE CUSTOMER.

CC believe me I don't trust them. I follow up every week, thats how I have managed to call over 50 times and check e-bennies daily. Not happy with "we have everything we need and a rater will review your record and make a decision or request more information", I assumed they were blowing smoke, so I followed up with an IRIS and was told "we have everything we need and a rater wil...... I'm not a happy camper. They aren't trying to be inefficient its just their culture. Let me give a few examples; In Jan Atlanta VARO schedules me for multiple C&P exams at Dublin VAMC, I attend them all except ENT and Audiology. Why not those two? Because the examiner at Dublin pointed out that they are done at the Augusta VAMC. I call Atlanta VARO back and say Dublin couldn't do the ENT/Hearing because those are done at Augusta could you please schedule me through Augusta? Response from VARO- We will review your SMR's to determine if exams are even needed. I say they must be needed because you just sent me for them but to the wrong VAMC. Their response- we will need Dublin to confirmn they could not complete them. I say cool when will that be. They say either 60 or 90 days depending on what suspense they put on it. I say are you kidding me, don't you know what exams are at what VAMC? I'm telling you now you screwed up but you want me to wait 60 -90 days to reschedule. Their response....Yes. Hearing/ENT exam requested by VARO in Jan finally scheduled in May. I also mentioned that I didn't get exams for everything I claimed when will those be scheduled? VARO response, a rater reviews your records and determines what exams are required if they didn't request an exam its because they feel they have everything they need in your SMR's to make a decision. I wasnt sure that was the right answer so I sent an IRIS with same question and low and behold got the same answer. That was in February now in Sep they are telling me they never had my SMR's to begin with. What may I ask were they reviewing to determine what C&P's to send me to? Humm wonder how many C&P's i will get when they actually get them? Here is another; booked a day off work to go to two C&P exams at Dublin VAMC. Day prior I get home from work and there is a message on my answering machine " this is a reminder of your appt at 1400 tomorrow" the message doesn't say who its from or what or even where the appt is. Guess what...Its a CT scan that the VA never notified me about....lucky for me I already booked day off AND it was at the same VAMC but different building as my other two C&P's. Kinda weird I got a half assed reminder for an appt I didnt get a letter for but no reminder for the two I did get letters on. Just luck huh

GAF is a "snapshot in time". MH professionals will show your GAF for a certain period of time ie; that particular day, based on your behavior/symptoms. From what I understand the raters look at symptoms and if its a close call they "May" look at the GAF's. You could have symtoms associated with a 50% rating throughout the year but only have a 62 GAF on the day you see the MH Pro. Some days are better than others so GAF can change. I know someone who has had a 65 and a 45 within 2 months of each other.