paul554

A little tip for everyone. When ever you submit something to the VA, either via mail or ebenefits, there is a way to track its reciept by the VA. On ebenefits go to historical claims or claims in process. Click on a claim, any one will do. Now click on the tab for all uploaded documents. Near the bottom of the page is a link titled "check our unsolicited items page." Click on this link. This page should show you the title of any documents received by the VA and the date received. So far I've found this page to be updated fairly soon, a day or so, after actual reciept by the VA. Basically, this is just a nice little tool to further ensure that the VA received your documents and perhaps have additional proof if they claim they never received a document.

Your husbands rating should be similar to what the IDES notified him of, but he will likely have to restart the process. A finding of fitness to continue on active service invalidates the IDES ratings. These ratings are presumptive ones from the VA, adopted by IDES. The VA rating only becomes permanent and adopted by the VA upon a finding of unfit and separation. Since he was found fit, even just for six months, the IDES ratings were likely discarded and he was required to reapply to the VA prior to his retirement.

If you're interested in starting a business I would recommend you go to voc rehab. They have a self employment track that allows you to collect your 100% unemployable rating while you attempt to start your own business. They also can help cover start up costs and expenses. This seems to me to be the safest route, since if the business is unsuccessful or if your disabilities prove to be a problem, you can fall back on the unemployable rating and have the VA documentation to show that it's the direct result of your disabilities.

The code of federal regulations is statutory in nature and it binds the VA. The M21-1MR is an internal policy regulation. If the manual is in contrast with the law, then it must secede to the law. Hence, you can not trump the CRF or USC with the internal regulation.

My guess is that the MOPH is over loaded with claims and is attempting to sift through them to find meretorious ones. Here is the problem though. A veteran gets denied because the VA misapplied the CFR. The veteran doesn't articulate this, they just know they were unjustly denied. The MOPH VSO, who is a volunteer with no legal background, knows the denial seems wrong but they also can't articulate how the VA reached this decesion. A simple appeal on the merits will fail because the VA has evaluated the evidence and applied the CFR. What you need in this case is a well reasoned legal argument showing that the VA misinterpreted the statute, and most VSOs don't habe the ability or background needed to provide such an argument. Remember though, even if you have a VSO there is nothing preventing you from flinging the NOD on your own to preserve he appeal.

Since it is not covered specifically under the CFR it is rated analogous to other disabilities. Whether that means it is physical or mental depends on the root cause of the insomnia, whether it is tied to other causes, and if the symptoms overlap with other disabilities. Often times insomnia is a symptom of other conditions, but it can be a ratable disability on its own.

Remember, the VA itself does not enjoy a presumption of regularity, the government does. Hence, this is why evidence that you mailed in items carries such weight, because the government controls the post office. This is also why you shouldn't use fedex or usps in these instances. This is why it's hard for the VA to claim that one agency of the government (the VA) enjoys the presumption, but another (the post office) should not.

I just want to urge anyone claiming a CUE to please check with your regional office in person if possible. I submitted a cue several months ago with no updates. It failed to appear on ebenefits, which apparently is the norm for a cue claim, and my IRIS inquiries often came back confused thinking I must be referring to a pending claim for increase. Even after talking on the phone to a representative it was obvious that they were confused as to what was going on. So, being proactive, I went it the regional office to inquire. They then pulled up my cue and showed me that it was stamped received and reviewed. The only problem is that no one had reviewed it! This took two clicks of a mouse to fix and ensure that the file was sent for review. I shudder to think how long this would have taken without personal intervention. So if you see no updates on your claim I encoursge you to go inquire in person. It appears to be the most effective method and it helps to speed the process up.

VA keep requesting additional evidence, records, etc for my claim even though I gave them everything they needed. Clicked the button about two weeks ago and was scheduled for C&P exams within a week. So long as you aren't building up any additional medical files or such I'd say it's worth using.

Keep in mind, your fee agreement probably had no stipulation to cancel based on your physical location. It is very likely that if you fire your attorney for this reason alone, you will be on the hook for any legal fees that were agreed to. Most of the time, it's contracted at $250 an hour.

EAJA fees are awarded by the courts in cases where the governments position is substantially unjustified. The BVA, DRO, and RO therefor can't award them. Additionally, the fees only cover the portion of the work done on the matter before the court. So if your attorney did fifty hours of work on the case, thirty done for the BVA portion and twenty for the court portion, then they can only recover foe the twenty hours done for the court portion. Further, the EAJA must offset the attorneys fees of past due benefits dollar per dollar, and if EAJA fees are more then the past due amount the attorney gets, then they only recoe e EAJA fees. Your case seems odd since the attorney fee was for over twenty percent. It this case the VA is not supposed to with hold any fees. Fees are only withheld if the twenty percent per se reasonable limit is not exceed. This encourages attorneys to charge is amount by ensuring that the federal government pays them and illuminates the need for them to pursue collections. As far as asking for a discount, be careful. You signed a binding contract and attorney fee agreements for the VA fall under the jurisdiction of the court of veterans appeals. If your attorney sees you as attempting to breach the contract they can go to the court to enforce it. If your agreement imposes a losing party liability for the fee agree,met, you will be on he hook for their legal fees to cover the dispute. Also, if you need any legal help in the future you might run into problems. Most attorneys would probably be hesitant to deal with the trouble client who is always asking for adjustments to the fee contract for arbitrary reasons.