VA IS TAKING BACK MY DIC BENEFITS?

[NeedHelp91]

Hello all,

I am very upset and posting for ANY AND ALL ADVICE. I received a phone call moments ago from someone who could only give a first name of "Greg" at the Milwaukee VA.  He stated that I had been paid benefits "but I was not entitled to these benefits." These benefits were direct deposited into my bank account and had already cleared as being "available."  

 

I was granted retroactive DIC benefits for the 10 years since my husband passed.   I am also owed burial benefits. I have never received an accounting of the benefits. And I was unaware a deposit had even been made into my bank account until receiving this call. However, now, that they have made a deposit, HOW IS VA ALLOWED TO GO BACK INTO MY BANK ACCOUNT AND TAKE THEM BACK?

 

After a quick google of the situation, even if these benefits "were in error" (which I do not believe, but let's pretend) they would have been issued 100% in VA Administrative error as I have been truthful with them from the start.  And it appears from everything online in past cases that if it was 100% VA administrative error, they could NOT take these benefits back? because it would not be a valid debt....

 

PLEASE ANY AND ALL HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.  I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW I CAN FINALLY BE GIVEN BENEFITS AND THEN THEY CAN BE TAKEN AWAY...

[bluevet]

Hello,

Thank you so much for your help.  

-I did look up the number. It was 414-902-5000...and Google confirms it is Milwaukee VA number. I am unsure why I would have anything to do with Milwaukee because I live in IN.  The man said his name was "Greg" but could provide his last name.

-Buck, do you know of any way to look up a Regional Office phone number? The only number I have is 1-800-827-1000...and this number gets me nowhere.  is there a way for me to find the Indianapolis number?  I did not know this was an option.

-I filed my original claim in March of 2006.  My DIC was approved in Sept 2014. In July 2015, I received the Ratings Decision and original letter about benefits.  I received an initial "retroactive" payment in July 2015 with no accounting of what it was for. AND the letter stated I was not paid any benefits for my and my deceased husband's dependent children. I am still owed benefits from them and still owed burial benefits. My daughter is also still owed retroactive DEA benefits (but she has a separate bank account...so it can't be related to that)

-I received my first DIC monthly check in August and got the second in September. Both via direct deposit. The normal monthly $1256 or something like that...(I don't recall the exact number)

-I called my bank manager and he said he couldn't see anything on the bank account to indicate they were taking it back...but that if they were "recalling" it there was nothing he could do.

The deposit was made to my account yesterday unbeknownst to me.  Then today I receive a call late Friday afternoon that they are taking it back.  I never received a letter of any kind about them taking back or lowering benefits.

As of now the funds are still "available" in the account, but since it is late Friday afternoon I can't go into the bank now and receive the funds in CASH to take to a new bank?  It is a substantial amount. And I would imagine a wire transfer of funds to a new account with another bank that I would still need to open would take a bit of time...so not sure that is an option for today.  

 

Of course being a friday afternoon I do not know what else I can do...

 

DIC benefits are handled through the VA pension center. There are 3 pension centers in the U.S. and the one in Milwaukee serves Indiana.

[Buck52]

http://www.hadit.com/forums/forum/122-va-regional-offices/

Edited September 25, 2015 by Buck52

[Guest]

If the funds was deposited in your account then the funds are legally yours until you get a written notice that it was an error. Just like you received a letter from VA granting you benefits, VA must also send you a written notice.  If you leave the funds in your account VA can request the bank return the funds but VA is supposed to send the bank a written letter to return the funds.  Sometimes they (VA) may fax the letter to the bank to return the funds.  Once the funds are deposited in your account you can do anything you want with them so no it is not illegal.   If and when you get a letter stating  that the funds have to be return, you can ask VA to set up a repayment plan, all legal and above board.

[Berta]

I sure do not advise moving money this way.

Your actual VARO of jurisdiction is, from what you said, is  Indianapolis

Indianapolis Director Michael Stephens

317-916-3818

Michael.Stevens2@va.gov

Milwalkee  has no acting director on my list so maybe the guy who called you was Gregg Hablewitz

414-902-5050

And my reference says DIR.VBAMIW @va.gov as contact regarding anything to their director

and 414-902-5001 is only other number that might be for who ever runs the place.

I cant understand why a different RO would call you and why anyone from VA would give this news to any widow by phone.

There are only 2 things that might have happened.

After your husband died, did you remarry prior to turning age 57? In that case they will want that money back.

Or:

"I filed my original claim in March of 2006.  My DIC was approved in Sept 2014. In July 2015, I received the Ratings Decision and original letter about benefits.  "

Was the date you first filed within one year of your husband's death?

(They only pay accrued retroactive benefits if the claim was filed within that same year....could that be the amount they want back?)

or:

 "My DIC was approved in Sept 2014. In July 2015, I received the Ratings Decision and original letter about benefits"

something is wrong there.....if the VA approved your claim in Sept 2014 and didnt send the rating decision until July 2015.....was that because this was a BVA award?

I never heard of them taking that long to pay approved DIC to a surviving spouse.So maybe the retro was for retro DIC and not accrued benefits.

or ( ok 4 things that might have happen)

some 90 day wonder at Milwalkee might have definitely gotten you mixed up with some other claimant because you seem to have had IN as your AOJ during the claims process, unless the IN RO  farmed this out...

or # 5, we are simply dealing with incompetent people at the VA .

In any event ,even if the VA overpaid you, they have to formally send you a letter to that affect and you will have opportunity to appeal their decision. That is the usual SOP...but

They might be trying to recover an overpayment as fast as they can to cover someones butt.

"The deposit was made to my account yesterday unbeknownst to me". Was it the exact same amount as the past retro check was?That could mean this is a simple error on their part but not regarding anything additional they owe you.

Chapter 35 refunds are handled differently and would go to your daughter;s account....unless somehow they screwed that up and put that in your account.

Monday you will get better info from the contacts I gave you above.

I am assuming they are not taking your DIC benefit  away but just that they possibly overpaid you some retro or accrued amount in error.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NeedHelp91]

Hello all,

Thank you for your help in this matter--I truly appreciate it. I wasn't able to get on the phone with anyone today as it was so late in the day that I got the call.

-I realized I had a typo in my original post. He stated that his name was Greg and that he could NOT tell me his last name.

-The only RO I have ever dealt with in this whole process (since March 2006) has been the Indianapolis RO.  I have never sent anything to, received anything from, or spoken with anyone from Milwaukee until I received that call this afternoon.

-Thank you for listing the different things that could have happened. I answered the questions by pasting below:

After your husband died, did you remarry prior to turning age 57? In that case they will want that money back. Can't be this as I have not remarried (not ever planning to) and I turned 55 this year.

Was the date you first filed within one year of your husband's death?  Yes, my husband died March 22, 2006.  Strangely enough, I received a call from someone who claimed to be from the U.S. Navy not even a week after my husband's death telling me that I should call the VA to report that I thought my husband died as a result of his Naval service...and submitted it within a week.  His death was very sudden.  I thought it was crazy at the time, but I believe it with my entire being now. My husband had not received any VA medical treatment or VA benefits prior to his death. 

...Therefore, I don't think I would be getting any of the "accrued" benefits you mention above. I should be entitled to DIC benefits (now and in the future), the retroactive DIC benefits for myself (and our two dependent children until they turned 18--they are over 18 now...but not for the entire time I should have been receiving DIC benefits), the burial benefits, CHAMPVA coverage, and retroactive payment from CHAMPVA for the things that would have been covered since my eligibility date of March 22, 2006. And my two children would be eligible for the DEA benefits...

 "My DIC was approved in Sept 2014. In July 2015, I received the Ratings Decision and original letter about benefits"

something is wrong there.....if the VA approved your claim in Sept 2014 and didn't send the rating decision until July 2015.....was that because this was a BVA award?  Yes, this is the case...however odd it seems.  I applied in 2006 as soon as I was notified of the need to apply. It went through several cycles with the RO and BVA and being remanded to the RO and to the U.S. Supreme Court of Veterans' Appeals Oral Arguments...and then remanded one last time to the RO where the benefits were granted. I have the paper stating my DIC claim was approved in September 2014.  I did not receive a copy of the Ratings Decision or any information on the DIC benefits, DEA benefits for myself and my children, and CHAMPVA benefits until July 2015. These all came together in one big envelope.  

some 90 day wonder at Milwalkee might have definitely gotten you mixed up with some other claimant because you seem to have had IN as your AOJ during the claims process, unless the IN RO  farmed this out...Maybe.  If my claim had been farmed out to Milwaukee, would I have been notified of this? I never received notification and everything thus far has been handled in Indy...so I don't understand the Milwaukee connection unless it is the Pension Management Center mentioned above...but again...never anything from them before...

"The deposit was made to my account yesterday unbeknownst to me". Was it the exact same amount as the past retro check was?That could mean this is a simple error on their part but not regarding anything additional they owe you.I thought of this as well...however, today's amount differs by almost 29k so it seemed like it was something else? Unless it was calculated wrong the first time around....

Chapter 35 refunds are handled differently and would go to your daughter;s account....unless somehow they screwed that up and put that in your account.  This makes sense unless the deposit yesterday ($XXX,XXX.XX) was more of the benefits they owed me PLUS the DEA retro pay for my daughter??... Again, neither I nor my daughter (my son hasn't attended college yet) have ever received an accounting detailing the benefits we have been paid and what they are attributed to...not sure how to word this, but nothing stating that "this deposit is retroactive benefits from date to date" or something like that. Just a deposit. No information about the deposit.  

 

In any event ,even if the VA overpaid you, they have to formally send you a letter to that affect and you will have opportunity to appeal their decision. That is the usual SOP...but

They might be trying to recover an overpayment as fast as they can to cover someones butt.  I checked my bank account now (9/25/15 @ 7:14pm CST) and the payment is still in my account as "available"...so even though this Greg told me they would take it back by end of day...it seems this didn't happen.  The funds had already cleared and were "available." It was direct deposit.  Even if it was an overpayment...do you think they would still send me the letter?  This Greg seemed very frustrated that I was upset (because he thought I would react differently when he told me he was taking it all back???!!!)...so maybe they are trying to cover someone. However, it seems INSANE to me that they would deposit money into my account and then call to tell me they were taking the benefits back out of my account because I was not entitled to them. I have the Rating's Decision and letter from VA granting my DIC claim and have submitted everything since then for the benefits...

 

Thanks again for the replies.  Any additional advice is appreciated. Will keep you posted on what occurs over the weekend, if anything..and on Monday's conversations.  Thank you!  I really appreciate the phone contacts and emails. FAR BETTER than calling 1-800...

 

 

 

 

 

[broncovet]

I agree with Berta.   Even if the VA did make an error and overpaid you, you may as well let them take it back, voluntarily, because if you are getting DIC, then they will take that overpayement out of future benefits.  So, moving it to a different bank is not a good idea.  

If the VA did overypay you, you can apply for a waiver, but it wont look good if you try to manipulate them by moving it to a different bank.

VA overpaid me and I applied for a waiver and got it.