FLCoyote

After repeated follow up's by me and by my VSO I gave up. My VSO called me last Thursday and said she had never had a case like this where no one in the VA knew anything except the RAMP opt-in had been received on 22 May 2018, with no further action taken. She in effect has given up. I was watching A VA Webinar last Thursday after hearing from my VSO. During the webinar the participants stated that if you couldn't get help any other way to call the White House hotline at 855 948 2311 and request assistance. I did just that and the individual that I reached was friendly, courteous and understanding. He took a summary of my issue and assigned a case number. the date for resolution is forecast for around 17 Oct 2018. My VSO has been great and has tried very hard to get status on my claim. Every time either my VSO or myself reached someone at VA, they said they would get it straightened out and a couple of weeks ago told my VSO that they would call me within a week. Guess What? No call. I think my appeal reflected a Clear Unmistakable Error (CUE) and got sidelined so it wouldn't affect the RAMP 125 day goal for resolution. Other than that I don't have any idea whats going on?

I opted into RAMP on 22 May 2018. To date nothing has been posted in ebenefits or vets.gov. Almost every other veteran I contacted via blog, etc. said their status had been updated within two weeks of RAMP submission to show their legacy claim closed and RAMP opened. The only thing I've managed to do is confirm that VA received the RAMP Opt-In on 22 May 2018, and that the Opt-In had not been processed or accepted yet. My appeal is based on VA having made a mistake in applying existing law and I sent a copy of the CFR(law) with my appeal. I talked with a former VA rating official (Doctor) that said they have no choice except to approve the appeal. I did not call it a CUE (Clear Unmistakeable Error, but that's what it really was/is. Its been 65 days since VA received the RAMP Opt-In and I would just like some indication about whats happening. I sent in an on-line question and received a generic run around answer that didn't have any real information. Can anyone advise me on why no status has been posted or how VA might handle an appeal when they clearly screwed up. Did they send it back to the initial reviewer to rework instead of logging it into RAMP. My VSO can't find out anything so far. Thanks to anyone that can help me understand. UPDATE: As of today, 15 Aug 2018, still no status. This is day 85 and so far I can't even tell if my appeal was accepted in RAMP. Nothing in ebenefits or vet.gov. My VSO checked again and advised me that the RAMP was received by VA on 22 May 2018 and that there isn't any further status. I'm just going to leave it alone for the next 40 days and then if no status I'll have a valid complaint about exceeding the desired/goal time for processing. I did receive my 5th RAMP Opt-In invitation yesterday. Something tells me that if VA is still requesting I Opt-In, that they haven't actually accepted the 22 May 2018 Opt-In.

My regional office is in Florida. I've been receiving and answering Va Correspondence from Janesville, Wisconsin. One IRIS I submitted came back and said my file was at Fort Harrison. So the truth is I don't know who or where my claim is being handled. My VSO called VA and told them I was on the verge of filing a congressional and I plan to do so at the beginning of next week if I don't get some firm status. The reasons the initial claim was denied are invalid and I sent VA the published law concerning the claim. I think that when they got my NOD and realized that the denial was in error that the file got misplaced. I not saying that the claim has to be approved, just that there should be a valid reason. Thank You for Your Comments. FLCoyote

The Rest of the story. Patience wouldn't have been of any use in this situation. I finally got in contact with a courteous and knowledgeable person at VA. His exact comment when he pulled up my claim was "God, what a mess". Claim was not in or headed for RAMP, there was no reason listed! No one had touched the file since 2 July 2018, the case notes didn't make since and he couldn't tell who has worked on the claim so he could try to find out what was going on. In effect, the claim had been ratholed and if I hadn't called, it would have stayed in the "Lie until they Die File". This explains why I have received three more Opt-In letters from VA since Opting In. The individual I talked with said he would run things down and get the claim back into the system. I guess the 125 day clock hasn't started yet? I'm going to wait one week and if no status or contact from VA, I'm going to call the Whitehouse hotline and file a Congressional request with my Congressman. During my career I handled several Congressionals and found that they are far more effective than generally thought. Any input/advice would be much appreciated? FLCoyote

Thanks for reply. I agree that VA takes it time to process claims. My question is: Why no update at all? As far as I can tell, just about everyone that opted-in to RAMP, got a status update within about two weeks. From the one answer I did get from a phone call, VA did receive my RAMP on 22 May 2018 and hasn't accepted it into RAMP yet. They haven't contacted me in any way except to send me two more Opt-in requests. VA may have referred it back to the initial reviewer since they made an obvious mistake in turning it down. I would just like to know what stage its in. You are correct in stating that I'm impatient. This has actually been going on since 2009, and has been denied twice citing incorrect regulations. I did not call it a CUE (Clear Unmistakable Evidence) because that throws it into a whole different process for resolution.

I opted into RAMP on 22 May 2018. To date nothing has been posted in ebenefits or vets.gov. Almost every other veteran I contacted via blog, etc. said their status had been updated within two weeks of RAMP submission to show their legacy claim closed and RAMP opened. The only thing I've managed to do is confirm that VA received the RAMP Opt-In on 22 May 2018, and that the Opt-In had not been processed or accepted yet. My appeal is based on VA having made a mistake in applying existing law and I sent a copy of the CFR(law) with my appeal. I talked with a former VA rating official (Doctor) that said they have no choice except to approve the appeal. I did not call it a CUE (Clear Unmistakeable Error, but that's what it really was/is. Its been 65 days since VA received the RAMP Opt-In and I would just like some indication about whats happening. I sent in an on-line question and received a generic run around answer that didn't have any real information. Can anyone advise me on why no status has been posted or how VA might handle an appeal when they clearly screwed up. Did they send it back to the initial reviewer to rework instead of logging it into RAMP. My VSO can't find out anything so far. Thanks to anyone that can help me understand.