Being Told The Nod Was Never Received

[eg1970]

My father filed a Notice of Disagreement on September 4th. 2013. We checked ebenefits but it said that he didn't have an appeal. He called the DAV guy a month ago and he said that we should hear something soon.

My father called the VA 2 weeks ago and they said they never received it and it's now too late to appeal but on the ebenefits website it shows that they received it on September 17th.

Does anybody know how to proceed?

Thanks

[FormerMember]

To be sure, always understand the appeals procedure is a two-step process. It is bifurcated to allow for resolution at the Regional level when at all possible. That was the intent of Congress. In practice, anything can ensue. The adjudicative path is very clear and requires certain phrases to trigger the next step. Additionally, requests for reconsideration, administrative review or any other machinations do not preserve your filing date. They merely "request politely" that VA reexamine their prior decision and many is the Vet who sends in a rant that says "You screwed me!" but fails to say "I want this looked at again". VA will take the stance (and usually does) that saying "you dissed me" is not legally sufficient to provoke an administrative review of the record locally. Having a VSO involved also introduces the possibility of a lesser motion such as the aforementioned choices. They may not share this with you. The danger of these lesser motions is obvious. They are interim solutions and do not preserve your right to appeal. With the current backlog, it is entirely possible VA will not get to your request within the legal time limit of one year from denial. Thus it is possible to lose out on a VSO brain fart and failure to CYA. Having representation does not absolve you of responsibility for supervising your claim. Blaming your VSO is disingenuous at best. You are the one who started this thus you are the aggrieved party. An attorney is a different matter and a far different (and higher) legal standard of stupidity.

Always remember this little jewel. When filing a true Notice of Disagreement, you must include a phrase that the poor raters can construe as voicing your displeasure with their recent decision and a desire for "appellate review". This starts the ball rolling on your appeals process and informs them in no uncertain terms what the motion is. Using a new 21-0958 is the VA's preferred method now but notice there is no box for a RO hearing. Also, it allows the VA to abrogate your relationship with counsel and intervene illegally. I suspect they'll eventually have to correct this.

Unless, or until, you receive a Statement of the case (SOC) confirming and continuing your denial, you are precluded from filing a Form 9. This is how I won my 1994 earlier effective date. The ball was in VA's court and they simply failed to send out a Supplemental SOC to cover their ass. As they say at the VA-"This is a two-way street." They, unfortunately, got run over by the same vehicle they used to mow me down with.

The Form 9 is the second legal step required by law to complete the process of the substantive appeal. At this time, you must present a plausible rationale for your appeal. Technically, if it has no legal substance it can be rejected as lacking merit legally. I have yet to see this eventuality but that is the legal standard. In our nonadversarial environment, this will probably never happen. This is also your last chance to request a hearing before the Veterans Law Judge who will hear your appeal. When represented by a VSO or by yourself (pro se), the legal standards are relaxed to a great degree such that you can argue new theories if and when a further appeal to the Court is necessary. (See Comer v. Peake 2009).

Dawdling an unnecessarily long time is the cause of more grief for Vets than I can possibly convey. Procrastination has been the death knell for far too many appeals. One last observation. Many of you look at eBenefits as the Oracle at Delphi and subscribe to whatever issues from the mouth of the screen. Similarly, many attach great significance to the utterances of "VA technicians" who answer the 800 Prize Redemption Call Center phone lines. Please realize that those technicians are new-hires and have the collective IQ of an ant. They type in your information and log it as an inquiry. This is called a Report of Contact. You will find them in your c-file in future years. They have no clue what your legal posture is. Most are relegated to viewing the same eBennies screen you are looking at. A ouija board would probably be a better alternative. And as for the new Provisional Ratings procedures, well, see the attachment.

A

cp

Edited January 23, 2014 by asknod

[Loose Cannon]

Very eloquently written asknod. I don't want to hijack eg1970's topic but your comments regarding Ebenefits and the 1-800 call center do nothing but re-enforce what many of us are facing.

Those 2 "services" are what the VA offers us to follow our claims. If they are both unreliable and/or non-functioning means to do this then why are the taxpayers dollars being wasted on them. Safe to say, most agree they provide little or no valuable assistance.

But it's all we got! Simply telling a vet not to rely on them is not helping fix the problem.

Just my thoughts for whatever it's worth.

LC

[FormerMember]

You do yourself a great disservice if you do not employ the IRIS system. Here's the link-- https://iris.custhelp.com/ It is, quite possibly, the only true method to obtain real-time info (within five-eight days) on the status of your claim. Granted, it may take two or three emails to accomplish it, but the knowledge is real and truthful. It is the only reliable method- period. Everything else is pure entertainment. They ought to move ebennies over to Face Page. Renaming the 800 line Dial-A-Prayer would be appropriate, too.

a

cp

Edited January 23, 2014 by asknod

[Loose Cannon]

You do yourself a great disservice if you do not employ the IRIS system. Here's the link-- https://iris.custhelp.com/ It is, quite possibly, the only true method to obtain real-time info (within five-eight days) on the status of your claim. Granted, it may take two or three emails to accomplish it, but the knowledge is real and truthful. It is the only reliable method- period. Everything else is pure entertainment. They ought to move ebennies over to Face Page. Renaming the 800 line Dial-A-Prayer would be appropriate, too.

a

cp

We agree on that one! IRIS has been the most useful but still, vets often get "computer generated, canned answers that often dodge the questions we submit. Persistence and following-up with additional IRIS questions is a must to get specific questions answered. And still, they dodge providing specific answers.

I would think many like you would welcome the proposal to overhaul the VA's current claim system at http://www.veteranwarriors1.com and to lead the veterans of our country toward real & meaningful reform - which is sorely needed. Instead, you shoot the messengers...

Respectfully Submitted,

Loose Cannon

Edited January 23, 2014 by Loose Cannon

[FormerMember]

Repeat after me. WWVD? (What would Veterans Do). When you've been dealing with these carpetbaggers and scalawags as long as I have, sir, you learn how to deal with them-even if it means driving ninety miles and sitting in their lobby all day. Acquiescing to the VA and their methods is exactly what I don't preach if you have perused my book. In fact, the only thing VA I advocate you use is the long form 21-526. I may be neanderthalic in my beliefs but don't let that fool you. This is, and always has been a paper game. Now its .pdf electrons. The meaning is the same. Either you have the NEW supportive evidence or you do not. If it's not germane and Material, it's no dice. Lay Testimony is hearsay unless you have something with a combat "V" for Valor on it. It's called Rules of Engagement or Romeos.

Each and every foray into "new techniques" by VA has run up on the rocks. As with any government entity, adjudication regulations are now beginning to drown the system. At the VA Aspire Academy back in Baltimore, you spend more time learning how to input the Vet's info into the M-21 than you do analyzing it for logic and continuity. Each and every innovation, especially the reforms to "Detroit it" in 2004, merely caused more confusion and delays. Remember that brain fart? Each VA technician would build onto the claim as it proceeded on an assembly line basis and when it arrived at Ratings, it was complete and ready...or not. Many cases were hopelessly backlogged that should have been done pronto--all because there was no central control or authority.

VBMS was constructed with an inadequate number of servers right out of the box. With all 18 of the original Regional Offices on line simultaneously, wait times were longer than doing it manually in the analogue mode with your eyes. Ask the AFGE guys. The thing is a dinosaur in the 21st Century. Here's the Rater's website hangout. Read it. http://www.seniorvsr.com/documents.php Every in-house IT adventure in new claims processing is horribly over budget, balky and slow as molasses. VA is more constipated at all levels- from the BVA to the Regional Offices- than at any time in the past..............................And you want them to embark on yet another new system, the likes of which have not yet even been formulated? Change simply for change' sake because the current, screwed up method isn't working? Or the one before it? Etc? Ad nauseum?

No, I believe the recipe for this is not throwing more money at it with a newer, better mousetrap. Subcontract out the backlog of claims to 3M or Xerox and get it done for 10 cents on the dollar--now--today. Clean up the mess at the BVA. You cannot have Veterans Law Judges (VLJs) who are hired (and fired) by the guy who writes their check. You have to go to the independent ALJ system of SSI. Presently, we just get more rotten justice of the same error-prone caliber as the ROs. There is no rose-colored sunglasses moment in this process, Loose Cannon. There is no magic repair order involving super glue to transform horses into Unicorns. I can remember a day (1976) when I could walk into an RO and go back to my representative's desk- that would be my VA representative, not a VSO- and discuss my VA loan app. in person. It was archaic and old-fashioned but it worked really, really well. We did that until the mid-eighties. I'm a builder. I did it a lot with my Veteran clients. Happy Hour at Flapper Alley was where deals were struck. I probably violated a slew of VAOIG regs by buying drinks all around.

You can go ahead and talk a blue streak about how it "oughtta be". Until they truly change how they view us and our claims right now, all the innovations and word-searchable .pdf stuff is just a Dog and Pony show for the cameras and the media. And believe me, trying to change the direction of which way the VA is going is proving to be a challenge even to the man put in charge. He knows already that 2015 is not going to be a promise he can keep. No sir. I respectfully submit that trying to reinvent the VA wheel is a fool's errand. I say privatize it and let the Gecko Lizard do it. Drive-thru window filing. Your very own representative you can call up or go see in person. Local offices in your home town. Transparency. Those are my rose-colored glasses.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Trying to put a smiley face on the 800 number or eBennies is merely reinforcing and rewarding mediocre performance. VA made a lovely little maze to deter IRIS users but once you get your complaint installed, they have to keep going until you are a happy, knowledgeable camper. I shoot the messengers and conveyors of stupidity. Continuing to do the same thing over and over( calling the 800 # or logging on to ebennies) and expecting a better outcome each succeeding visit is insanity on its face. I don't brook stupidity or wasting time on anything and especially not this enterprise. Finding new ways to beard this goat is my game and I don't have a lot of that precious commodity according to the doctors.

VA has proven, at least as far back as 1996, that they are woefully unprepared to accomplish their mission. Each succeeding VASEC has put his imprimatur on it or worse, done nothing but allow the status quo to continue. Ric Shinseki is finally dragging these bozos into the 21st century and they are not going willingly. USB Allison "in Wonderland" Hickey, with her Accenture CEO experience behind her, has attempted to come in and insert Kaizen and Six Sigma training for middle management. Note how well that's working on the Fully Developed Claims system? And you want to change canoes in mid-stream again in the middle of a hurricane?

I respectfully submit that you might want to reexamine your approach, sir. Go ahead. Be my guest. Shoot me first. But tell me what the Veteran Warriors propose in the interim first.

My name's Buckwheat and I approved this message.

Clear prop.

Edited January 23, 2014 by asknod

[carlie]

FILING A NOTICE OF DISAGREEMENT DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY LEGALLY GENERATE AN APPEAL ANYMORE/.

If your father didnt specify, APPEAL TO BOARD OF VETERANS APPEALS, it may be sitting in limbo. The vet service rep may have requested a ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW, which is asking the top bannanas at the regional office to take another look, or request a reopen. a reopen must have new evidence.

So call your DAV guy and ask what status the claim is in. NOTICE OF DISAGREEMENT IS NOT A STAGE ITS AN ACTION.

Requesting to have your claim go for APPELATE REVIEW, is requesting a judge decide it. to do that you must fill out a form 9.

This is how I understand it, anyone who doesnt agree, plz correct me.

I'd have to disagree with this as the timely submission of a NOD DOES begin the appeal process,

to move onto BVA a form 9 will do the trick.

If you have a link that supports your info - please post it.