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xpertshot

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Everything posted by xpertshot

  1. xpertshot
    I am 100% tdiu. I also have a question regarding income and self employment. I took on self employment to help pay some bills while my claim was going through processing. I sold insurance but have given up selling it now. Some policies I sold are getting renewed and the insurance company is still sending me commissions on those policies. I refer all the servicing of the client back to the insurance carrier and I don't manage any accounts. Would this still be considered self employment? It's residual income from work completed a couple years ago. The most I earned while actively selling was about $3500/yr and I disclosed this during the claim process. This year I can expect to make less than $1000/yr in residual income from those same policies. Thanks, Xpertshot
  2. xpertshot
    I just received the "official" letter discharging my student loans. Second paragraph states that I will be receiving a refund on payments made after the effective date of my VA Rating. Really happy for this part!!! Everyone, don't hesitate to request your student loans to be discharged. The process took aboout 30 to 45 days total!. Attached is the letter for your review. My loans were originally with Wells Fargo but transfered to Edfund, then Allied and ended up with ECMC for collections. Thanks again to everyone for your help during the process... studentloanletter3.pdf
  3. xpertshot
    Congratulations. Sounds like things have turned around for you and everything is beginning to line up again. The same thing is happenning with me now. It seems like once the VA claim got settled and complete, everything else just fell into place. Really happy for you.... xpertshot
  4. xpertshot
    Letter from ECMC notifying me that I will no longer have my taxes offset to pay on student loans. studentloanletter2.pdf
  5. xpertshot
    Letter from Post Default Services regarding Student Loans studentloanletter1.pdf
  6. xpertshot
    Hi everyone, Just wanted to update you on the 100% disabled vet student loan discharge. I have 100% tdiu and requested my past due student loans be discharged. I just recieve confirmation on the phone that my loans have been discharged as of Oct. 9, 2012. This is great news because I still had a balance owing $24k. I'll post and add a copy of my letters from the loan servicer as I get them in the mail. I have a coupleof letters explaining how they were going to stop all collection attempts until my case was resolved. One of the letters said they would refund any payments made after date I became disabled. I'll let you know if anything comes in the mail from that. If they calculate correctly, I would expect to get around $10K in refunds. Thanks, xpertshot
  7. xpertshot
    Congratulations! Every bit helps in the long run!
  8. xpertshot
    San Diego RO is very good at keeping ebenefits updated with claims progress and letter generator. Something I notice with payments is with Navy Federal the pending direct deposit shows up a few days before. I found out about a retro check through Navy Fed online. I live in San Diego, so my mail from the RO is delivered next day. So when I see an update on ebenefits, I receive a letter usually the next day depending on the day of the week. Places to check: 1) ebenefits claim status 2) ebenefits letter generator 3) bank pending direct deposit 4) 800 number (probably least useful) 5) mailbox
  9. xpertshot
    Thanks john.
  10. xpertshot
    Just wanted to share some information given to me by the VA in San Diego regarding claims deferred. In Jan 2012 I was awarded 70% for Major Depression and deferred for Rotator Cuff. I quickly filed for tdiu and recently received an answer to the Rotator Cuff. On the award letter it stated that they are still working on and deferred tdiu and Major Depression. I was surprised to see Major Depression as deferred because they had just rated this in Jan. I went to the VA to get an explanation. This is what they said: Major Depression is showing deferred to notify you that your service connected disability of "Major Depression" is the sole condition being regarded in whether they approve or deny TDIU. All the other conditions already rated will not be considered, hence not showing up as deferred as well. I was concerned that maybe the VA was looking to lower my rating for Major Depression but appearently this is not the case. The rep I spoke with said the Rater would need to schedule a new C&P before they would lower my recently decided claim. I sure hope this information, as it was explained to me, is accurate. If anyone has additional information to share with me, I would really appreciate it. My wife and I are in the process of getting an apartment and would hate to commit to something I won't be able to afford if they lower my rating. I know what the VA told me, but for some reason I'm not 100% convinced with the explanation they gave. So, the worrying continues... Thanks in advance for your comments and advice. xpertshot
  11. xpertshot
    Thanks for the info on the IMO, I'll try to get that in asap. I appreciate the encouragement to keep fighting and not give up. In the past, this would have been an easy battle. Now I feel its difficult to hold on to this hope that I possibly be able to provide for my family. I feel terrible that I've had to jump from job to job for many years now. I'm tired of going through that, I don't want to put my family through that again. The VA doesn't understand that I don't have a problem in "finding" a job. My problem is "keeping" the job. Thanks again. xpertshot
  12. xpertshot
    I wonder the same thing about the VA wanting to hold on the the money a little longer. It's all in the numbers and it wouldn't surprise me if they correlate the number of claims processed - to - number of awards - to - dollar amount of awards. They need to stay within budget, don't they? If they approved all claims (assuming they are all legitimate), do they have the budget to pay on all of them? Where does the extra money come from when they run out? Depending on performance reporting cut-off dates, I'd bet you can track a pattern of claims processing that would disclose more than the public cares to know. It wouldn't suprise me either if they have a fully developed claim ready to go, they will deferr until a month when they can afford to issue an award. And, I bet some VA reps have more pull than others. Those veteran reps probably get away with more (whether good or bad) than some of the newer guys. Awards can be good for you and bad for them. Same for denied claims, bad for you but good to them. I guess it just depends on what team your playing on when that decision comes down. The mystery continues.... I hope everything turns out for the best in your claim. But we have to keep fighting and fighting. I know too many veterans that never apply for compensation because they don't want to deal with the hassle. It seems to me that the VA's plan is working. They are getting many people to believe that applying is not worth it. Sad but true. xpertshot
  13. xpertshot
    That's my worry. They only decided that a few months ago and now they want to take it away? They sent the forms to my previous employers and one replied that they don't have a record of me working there, ever. It was the 2010 census so all those temp offices are closed now. My only other employer was from 2009 and that company was bought out and merge with another. I was fired from that job so it doesn't surprise me they haven't replied either. When I called the 800 about a month ago, they told me they were waiting for the employment verification forms to come in. I told them they will never come and that I don't have any additional information to provide. They sent a request for these forms when I asked for TDIU in Jan 2012. I also signed a new form stating that I do not have any additional information to submit to support my claim ( I forget the form number). I don't know what the fuss is in "verifying" my past work history. Why don't they just go to Social Security and get my records from them? It's all there. And any employment that the VA is aware of, is because I disclosed it to them. Complete nonsense! xpertshot
  14. xpertshot
    I revieved a partial award in the mail yesterday. Last week I had noticed my status on ebenefits go from notification back to review of evidence. I know now it's because two items are listed as deferred. 1) Entitlement to Individual Unemployability and 2) Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My new award is for Rotator cuff 10%. which doesn't change my combined rating of 80%. I'm confused on the Major Depression deferral because I was rated 70% Major Depressive and others to get me combined 80% in Jan 2012 and back dated to Aug 2010. Why is it showing up now as deferred? My award letter includes forms to update dependents but I already did that and they already sent me retro for that back in Feb 2012. Thanks, xpertshot
  15. xpertshot
    Congratulations! I agree with your comment, Be Honest! I remember when I got my first VA award letter, it was a weird feeling for me too. I wanted to be happy but just didn't know how to anymore. Take good care of yourself and live life to the fullest!
  16. xpertshot
    My original claim date was Aug 2010. My estimated completion date was Feb 2012. I'm still waiting for some kind of notice. I don't get the letters from the VA anymore and the American Legion won't take my calls or help when I walk into their office. My best source for info and guidance is here on www.hadit.com. Don't hold your breath, I did and it took a toll on my health. Constant worrying and hoping only led to disappointment. Don't do what I did and wait on the VA. Go and enjoy time with your family, friends, or take up a hobby or start a new one. Just think that you are already in line holding a number. You number will be called.
  17. xpertshot
    Congratulations! When I got my notice I went from 20% to 80% with a few items deferred, including the tdiu. Good luck to you.
  18. xpertshot
    Congratulations! But, by the time they get to your TDIU claim, you may very well be ready to stop working... LOL Again, congratulations on your victory!
  19. xpertshot
    Yes, I have an old copy. However, I checked again today and it was back to normal stating that I'm more than 30%. I'm guessing it was just a glitch in the system with all the recent updates to ebenefits. Thanks for your advice but I'm glad it took care of itself without me needing to call.
  20. xpertshot
    As mentioned many times before, not all RO's are the same in reporting changes on ebenefits. Here in San Diego for example, they update the info on ebenefits quickly. My experience has been that when they request info regarding my claim, I can be at the RO turning in the info before I get the notice in the mail. I check constantly to make sure they did not send my claim back to request additional information. My RO is only 15 minutes away for me, but for others it may be hours. Some may need to make appointments with DAV or other reps or take time off from work. As for backlog's and how VA has shown to delay in completing claims, I would hate to miss out on having a claim approved because I didnt reply on time. Or worse, not reply because I never received notification from the RO. Just my two cents...
  21. xpertshot
    Glad to hear your claim is moving in the right direction. Good luck on the NOD for the denied claims.
  22. xpertshot
    **** AB4 Letter I noticed the percentage went away as noted in the previous topic. However, looking at my verification letter, it use to read that i was more than 30% service-connected (I'm 80% combined). Now the letter reads I'm at least 10% service connected but not more than 30%. I have a pending claim for tdiu with 70% major depression, 10% Lknee, 10% Rknee, and 10% sinusitus. Can anyone give me a clue as to what could be going on? On ebenefits, my claim had progressed to "pending desicion approval" and today it is back at "review of evidence". I know the claim can go back and forth in status, but I'm concerned that the only document showing my percentage on ebenefits states that I'm not more than 30%. My benefit letter still shows the pay amount = to 80% minus the actual percentage listing as everyone else. Thanks, xpertshot I looked at the letter again, it is the civil service preference letter (AB4)
  23. xpertshot
    This topic was very interesting to read. Thanks for posting and for the wonderful comments. For a long time, I felt as if I was worthless, unbable to keep a job longer than 6-8 months. More recently, I have been unemployed for over 3 years. How I wish I could find a company that would hire me into a job that I could feel proud of. Unfortunetly, thats not going to happen to me anymore. Filling out the applications they ask for five to ten years work experience. I never have enough room to list all my past employers in the space provided. Not having a VA rating didnt help with the situation and explanation to potential employers or with family. All I could reply to their questions of why I can't handle keeping a job was that I had put in a claim with the VA and that I believed the result would be in my favor. Today I can now say that I am rated by the VA, but the gaps in employment havent changed. Looking at my own work history and recent work experience, I would not hire myself either. I dont blame the hiring managers for passing me up, and I dont feel I owe anyone (employers or family) any explanations. Having received my award didnt change how i feel or how i see things. If i went back to work I know I would eventually suffer the same outcome as my previous 12 jobs. I dont see how having money, or having a "good" job can change how a disabled vet (especially ptsd) feels or how it eases his/her symptoms of ptsd. I thought that getting my retro pay would change my life and i would be able to "live" better. The joy and excitement went away in as little as a couple days. Sorry this was long and personal to me, but i find this as helpful therapy to be able to discuss my thoughts and personal views. Again, great post and topic discussion!
  24. xpertshot
    Ok, I submitted my forms requesting individual unemployability, actually beat ebenefits to the punch! So now I'm sitting on "gathering of evidence" according to ebenefits. I checked for state benefits and found that I can get a reduced rate fishing and hunting license. I purchased the fishing license for around $6 vs. $42. Thank you California. I also qualify for a state parks pass that I need to send the request in for. The pass will allow me access to all CA state parks, free of charge. This will be frequently used and appreciated. I'm still trying to build up the nerve to go to social security and start the process with them.... is there a hadit.com for social security??? LOL Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. There are so many benefits out there that are kept from public knowledge. I'm glad I can count on the people that understand what I'm going through, and what I've been through just to make it this far. Best regards, Jimmie
  25. xpertshot
    I recieved a yellow envelope from the San Diego, CA RO. In it was my award letter showing my award for increased evaluation and new claims. INCREASED EVALUATION TO 80% 1. Major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder - 70% 2. Allergic rhinitis - 10% 3. Patellafemoral pain syndrome, Right - 10% (continued) 4. Patellafemoral pain syndrome, Left - 10% (continued) 5. Left shoulder tendinitis - DEFERRED 6. Entitlement to Individual Unemployability - DEFERRED *Both backdated to Aug. 24, 2010 7. Left elbow strain - denied 8. Left wrist sprain - denied 9. Left Achilles tendinitis- denied *denied because the above mentioned items are not "CHRONIC". "A disability which began in service or was caused by some event in service must be considered "Chronic" before service connection can be granted. Although there is record of treatment in service.... There is no evidence of continuity fo treatment from the date of discharge from active duty to present." They didnt pay for my dependents on this RETRO, but I already sent in my forms to update my records and can see they are working on it on ebenefits. They put in the claim for IU on their own, does this mean it has a higher probability that it will be approved? Thanks everyone for your help. Its been a long time waiting, a lot of things lost over this period of waiting. I can now begin to plan for my future with my family again. I'm waiting to hopfully hear something today from a rental I applied for so I can move out on my own with my family. Keeping my fingers crossed. Although this is only a partial descision, I am hopeful that the remaining items on my claim will be resolved in my favor. Keeping my fingers crossed. The fight is not over yet! xpertshot San Diego, CA
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