No Retro!

[COOL BREEZE]

I just received an IRIS letter stating this-

Dear Mr. Cool Breeze-

Thank you for your inquiry of December 08, 2011.

A review of your records shows that you received a Notification Letter on November 28, 2011. A retroactive payment on December 1, 2011 for $528.00 and a regular payment of $941.00 was received on the same day. The two payments received on December 1, 2011 totaled $1,469.00 and your payment on December 30, 2011 was for $1,479.00. No other retro payments are to be received.

If you have further questions, you may call our toll free number of 800-827-1000 and speak to one of our representatives. You may also write to the Phoenix VA Regional Office, 3333 North Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85012, or send us an electronic inquiry through the Internet at https://iris.va.gov.

What the heck? I thought I was waiting for the military retirement to finish there audit, so the VA can pay me 2 years of retro. This is definitely going to my Congressman's office that they are cheating me-this is a Cue claim. How do I go about suing the VA for emotional distress. I am having severe chest pains from this-I'll see what Peggy has to say-someone owes me big time!!

I am not putting up with this *****.

[Deacon 2011]

Dang Cool!

I haven't been on the site for a while... I thought you would be good to go by now. My status changed right after yours; I have decided not to have any expectation to see any retro before Christmas... not stressing over this stuff anymore.

[Irish-7]

Thanks to Steve G for pointing me in the right direction and to Deacon 2011 for posting the number to DFAS Retro Pay office. This was my first month at 100%, so I hope that Deacon 2011 was correctly told that retro-pay is coming soon. I did receive a surprise payment of $94.35 from DFAS earlier this month. This was a repayment of VA Waiver (CRDP Offset) that were deducted from my military pension during the 5 months that I got compensation at the 90% rate, minus taxes of course! Steve G: I am also confused why DFAS is involved in these transactions. It must have something to do with CRDP. Perhaps the VA is verifying that the VA Waiver is paid before they release the disability entitlement. Deacon 2011: although I admire that you can avoid stressing about retro pay, I am not so sure that all of us have that patience. Words cannot truly reflect the adverse effects that waiting a year for the initial award had on me and my family. I won't bore you with the details, as many of you have experienced the same problems, I'm sure. The thought of waiting another year is hard for me. Reality is, my retro could be calculated at the wrong percentage (90%). I am expecting that retro pay will consider my IU award. But, the CRDP Audit sheet that DFAS sent me 4 months ago was generated before the IU decision. Good God, this could actually take years! I can only hope that all of those people involved in the delay of benefits, or the deliberate downgrade of medical conditions suffer the same as we do. After all, if I was rated as the criteria is written in the VA WARMS, there would not have been an offset, or request and wait for unemployability. The thing that bothers me the most is that only veterans are treated this way. If you file for Welfare, or food stamps, or WIC, or any of these government handouts, you get your money right away. It does not matter if anyone in your family tree ever worked a day in their life. You are provided for without question or delay. But, if you give your entire adult life in the service of your country, in the most demanding circumstances in the truly most horrible places on earth, you wait indefinitely to be compensated. Disgraceful! This is why our nation is doomed for economic collapse. We have our priorities all screwed up.

[COOL BREEZE]

Yep. I am sick of all the lying and B.S. the VA has been giving me. I am setting next xmas as the most probable date to get this retro. Sure glad I don't have any guns in the house, otherwise I would be doing some heavy duty venting.

No one knows nothing, nobody gets a rats ***. I'll just tell the IRS they will have to wait for the under payment, the water leak in the back yard will contine costing me an additional 100.00 per month.

Don't call the 800#. They have no information on retro. It is an entirely different category not accessible by anyone. I figure they are using my paperwork for dart board practice.

Yep-a dirty shame that the VA treats us worse than dirt.

[Irish-7]

I just called the phone number for DFAS Retro-pay that Deacon 2011 provided in the 31 JAN 12 post. That number (877-327-4451) is no longer in service. The new # is: 800-321-1080. There are multiple options on the menu. One is for CRDP or Retro-pay. I don't recall which option number it was because I was trying to write down the previous selections and could not keep up with the recording. It may be #6, as the last thing that I wrote down was "General-#4" before I heard Retro or CRDP. There are 2 options after that. Take the first one (as though you received written correspondence from DFAS), it will get you a live representative. Number 2 is just a recording. The guy that I spoke to, Monroe, was pleasant and knowledgeable. He told me that the VA takes 2 to 4 months after the change in disability percentage (and increase in military pension) to process Retro-pay. I just went to 100% this month, so according to this schedule, the earliest that I'll get the back pay would be 01 MAY 12 and the latest should be 01 JUL 12. Unbelievable. If I don't get paid until July, that will be 2 full years from filing to complete payment. Imagine the civil unrest that we would have in our cities if the government told the Welfare crowd that they will have to wait 2 years to receive benefits. There would be riots, looting, robbery and burglaries beyond the scope of 1968. But, with the thousands of broken veterans, this is just "business as usual". Mind boggling.

[COOL BREEZE]

I wouldn't count on what DFAS told you. They have no idea what goes on with the VA. And of course the VA can't tell you anything either.

I am working on a formal request to be processed by my Congressman to investigate this issue. I have enough crap of lying, multiple excuses, lack of information, and a completely broken organization that has no idea what they are doing. Mostly wasting tax payer money and causing a lot of VETS of anxiety attacks due to there stupidity and backward pre-world war standards of processing claims.

My suggestion would be to hire a neutral company that can to this job much better. The VA organization as we know it now is broken, unrepairable and undesirable. The government needs to contract this out, by bids on who can do the job better. Obviously the VA never will be able to fix itself. The continue lying to the government about what fixes they have in place, however in realty, we know that is not true.

It is best to just draft a good letter, contact your Congressmans offfice and let the wheel start to spin.

[Irish-7]

Well, I am not going Congressional just yet. While I was waiting for my initial award, about a year ago, I spoke with an attorney that specializes in VA law. She told me NOT to go to the Congressman at that point. She said that as soon as the VA gets the Congressional Inquiry, they pull the file from the person who is supposed to be working on it and put it on someone's else's desk to look into the problem. She also stated that there is a 60 day freeze on closing the case while the VA investigates and prepares a reply for the Congressman. I am expecting a ruling from my Social Security appeal any day now. If I win, they will owe me a similar amount in retro-pay. They at least square up with you right away. The real shame in my situation is that I am not the only one affected here. After I pay the debts accrued waiting for my award, I have commitments to support others with this money. I have a brother in real estate that is losing his business. I told the priest that I would double my weekly contribution. I actually saved every charity request since I retired with the hope in sending them something when I had closure to my case. The Disabled American Veterans, Knights of Columbus, VFW Charities, Food For The Poor, AMVETS, Catholic Social Services, Police & Firefighters, Bishop's Appeal and even the VA Medical Center that took a year to decide my claim. So, delaying my back payment is hurting countless people. Wrong as it may be, I do draw some consolation from the thought that whoever is stalling my payment, can burn in hell for it.