Imtellinellen

Okay, I got my retro pay today. I'm moving off the streets and back into an apartment today. It's been a really rough month but it's finally over. Thanks for all your support here. -Ellen

*update* I pawned my laptop and cellphone this morning so I could fill up my friends gas tank and drive 100 miles to the Regional VA office this morning to have a word with them. I signed in at 11:00AM, took my seat, and waited. The highlight of my day was setting in the waiting room with 10 other people watching 5 counselors stand around for 20 minutes talking about the broken coffee machine and about how annoying it was when people complained about having to wait so long to be seen. Then, to everyone's suprise, the entire office just walked out of the room and didn't come back... for 5 hours. That's right, with all of us sitting there looking at them like they had lost there minds, all 5 counselors just walked out without a word and stayed gone the entire work day. I sat for 6 hours in the waiting room after I had signed in before I was seen by a benefit counselor. After she did a bit of computer work she gave me the following information: 1. The reinstatement forms that Peggy had sent to them 3 times this month never arrived. 2. The paperwork that I personally faxed to them had vanished completely. 3. My financial hardship paperwork had also magically vanished. What an amazing set of coincidences! When I asked who dropped the ball on my case, she told me that she wasn't going to place blame on anyone and that she wouldn't talk about it anymore with me. If I hadn't sold my few possessions to travel to the regional office, my benefits would have been in limbo forever... In the end, I followed her personally up to the finance office and waited until I could physically watch them re-instate my benefits. She told me that it could be up to 15 more days before my benefits would be deposited and that I most definitely would NOT be receiving my normal benefit on the first. I'm thoroughly impressed by the service, compassion and work ethic of my regional VA office. It's always wonderful to see such a well-oiled machine running so smoothly.

That sure would be a treat! Thank you for the birthday wishes!

Small update - Got a call from Peggy this morning. Not a guarantee but she thinks my check will hit by Thursday. Not gonna get my hopes up. In other news Happy Birthday to me! Yesterday that is!

So the state of Colorado gave me an emergency food stamp card. So that's one less thing to worry about. I'm just gonna wait it out and hope everything works out by the first of April. I also got a big bag of cat food for Lefty my one eyed cat (see avatar). Other than that, I have nothing to report yet. *update* Following the advice of a young woman I talked too at the VA 800 number, I have faxed a copy of my eviction notice and other such information to my regional office with a cover letter that stated: Attn: Financial Hardship, Request to expedite payment. I'm not sure if doing so will actually speed the process up but it couldn't hurt... Time to wait out the weekend.

I've called them a few times, they don't know much about the suspension. It's odd to feel so happy about winning my claim and so depressed about the aftermath. My neighbor gave me a dozen eggs, a sack of potato's and some baked beans so I have food now.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm submitting an IRIS inquiry as I write this. Hopefully someone on the other end can help. *update* I got a call from the VA 5 minutes ago. The gentleman who I spoke to told me that they just submitted the request to lift the suspension on March 11th! 12 days after I called and changed my information. The VA benefit counselor informed me that It could still take up to a month from the day they submitted the request. I honestly don't have a month. My lights get turned off in 4 days, and I had a demand for payment taped to my apartment door on Saturday from my landlord. It wouldn't be so bad if I was still going to receive my normal benefit. I'm not really concerned about the retro pay at the moment, I'm sure it will come some day. I just need my normal benefit and everything would be fine. I'll keep updating if I get any new information. I'm still insanely grateful that my claim was closed successfully and after this mess get's fixed my quality of life should improve dramatically. My car went to motor heaven last month and when the retro hits I can get a replacement and maybe move out of this efficiency and into my own place. -ellen

Warning: Medium sized wall of text incoming. Well, along with the great relief of winning my award for 100% last month came a bit of bad news. On the 27th of feburary, my Retro-pay was sent to a non-existant account due to a single mistyped number in the VA computer system. The payment was returned to the VA the very next day. I immediately called peggy at the 800 number and changed my direct deposit information to the correct number. A week went by (8th of feb) and I called Peggy again to get an update and I was told that because the payment that was returned was so large my benefits had been suspended until the Treasury could verify my information and issue a new check to the the correct account. I was told that all payments (including my normal monthly amount) were suspended as well and I would not be recieving any payments until everything was fixed. No one at the VA could tell me with any accuracy how long the wait would be before I would see my deposit and I'm very worried. I'm not going to bore you with the fine details. Lets just say that none of my bills are getting paid this month and I've been eating delicious ramen for 18 days. Does anyone have any information as to how long this could take and what I could do to speed up the process? Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy to have won my claim. It's just crazy stressful knowing that if my payment doesn't come in next month I could be on the streets. I've been down this road before and it's nothing I want to experiance again. Any advice or information would be appreciated. -ellen

Thank you all for all the pats on the back. It's been a good wek.

It's an amazing feeling. You have done a great thing with this website.

Sucessful Claim! -Timeline- June 2011 - 6th VA claim filed October 2011 - 1st Gathering of dust phase on Ebenefits, no other info available online November 2011 - 2nd Finished submitting all evidence, called Peggy to verify that no more evidence was needed at this time. 15th VA reports that my medical records can not be located and my claim proceeds using alternate evidence I had previously submitted February 2013 (yes, no updates for quite a while) - 2nd First and only C&P Exam (30 minute exam, I felt as though I was treated fairly by the examiner, he was brief but thorough) 22nd Ebenefits jumps to Pending decision approval 25th Ebenefits jumps to complete, decision letter sent 26th The link to download VA letters on ebenefits shows AB8 with monthly award ($2816) and benefit explorer shows 70% rating when refreshed. Today Brown packet arrives in the mail with full explanation on decision (70% TDIU), I call Peggy to find out that the Retroactive Back Pay ($42,500) was sent to wrong account number! Peggy changes my direct deposit info to the correct account number and assures me that in about 14 days the back pay check will be deposited into my checking account and that the VA computer system shows my first compensation payment will hit my checking account in 2 days time. That's my story. I've been reading these forums for a very long time and I decided that I owe each and every one of you a hug and a thank you for all the great information I've come across. You all have helped keep me sane during this complicated process. I don't know what else to write at the moment but I'll keep you informed of any changes and I'll answer any questions if you guys and gals have 'em. Thank you all and good luck in your battles. They can be won.