GBArmy

Talk to the Post Commander and see if there might be more than one VSO at the Post. If not, you could contact the District Commander and see if he could swich for you. Or, you could just hunt around and find a new VSO that you see eye to eye on from any Service or County organization. Then switch on Va.gov.

Christopher I think you have two options. One, you can get a IMO from a specialist that states that that all your problem go back to your foot issues. That probably is the quickest and more sure route . But you would likely lose out on any chance of seriou EED and back pay. You could go to BVA, with or without any additional medical evidence and depending on strength of evidence is also a good choice. You have a third option which you could pursue whether you chose any option, which is CUE. That you probably should get legal advise on. If you do CUE, i'd try one or both of the first two firstIMHO.

ReallyAngry The advice offered to you by Broncovet and Marine Corp 69/70 is sound. Haven't been impressed with DAV? Me neither. But that is who you used for a VSO and they have their limitations like any VSO. I'd rather get one to say to me to "punt it" to a lawyer than to keep it with the expectation that they can't handle the legal elements of the case. Is CC&K legit? They are certainly in the very top of the chain as far as legal beagle types. There are several others also.Check out their web site on the internet. Contact them as suggested and discuss; they do not have any info specifically on your case so they will gather info from you verbally and if it has merit, they will ask for your POA to proceed. If they review your info and decide to take on your case, you can be assured that they believe you have a better than 50/50 shot of winning. Why? Because they are a business and there is nothing in it for them to develop a claim to lose. It's about $. If they decline, find out why if they can be honest with you. It very well may be that it doesn't fit in with their work load at present to devote the effort they need to win your claim. If you think that they should represent you for nothing and get nothing on your dime, don't hire them. Go it alone. You may get 100% all to your self; or, maybe 100% of nothing. I'd like 80% of something myself. Better odds. Point here is you can be angry and do it yourself with a much less chance of winning, or you can get past the frustration you feel with the VA hamster wheel and work to get your best results. I know no one who likes the VA disability claims process, but you have to do what you have to do.

TDIU is NOT always rated P&T. See this link for ChampVA. https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/318

Christopher Are you saying you had a disability for bth but applied for an increase and that is what was denied? Not sure what you have going on. War zone isn't presumptive for your back or feet disabilities. I suggest you redact your personal info on the decision letter and post it to this thread.

What shrek means is take a copy of your denial letter, etc. and black out your name, claim #, SSN, address, etc. that has all your personal info on it and post to this thread you have started.

ICPMOM EED is almost impossible to predict. You have the response already stated. You need to receive the decision letter to determine if you have a further appeal to do. If there is considerable $ possible, I'd consider canvasing a few lawyers and see what they say. It is based on legal stuff and hard for a non-lawyer to win onten in complex cases like yours is IMHO. 80% of something is a whole lot better than 100% of nothing.

Hi Earnestine Welcome to Hadit. You posted to an old entry; you don't have to do that. In fact, it will cause confusion. I will provide an answer and if you have any more questions, just start a new posting. This veing a weekend, you have limited options. Go to VA.gov and click on the financial payments button. It should show if there was a payment directed to your bank. Also, confirm that you have the correct address/info for the bank. I am assuming that you have received regular payments in the past but this one seems missing. If you strike out, call 800-827-1000 and ask the rep if they can tell you what's up. Come back if you still have problems you can't resolve on Monday.

dessertlady Welcome to Hadit. Hope you get the advice you need. The first thing I think of is contact your Congressman's office. Seems like it's a federal issue to me.

Cathy We are all glad you got a quick turnaround on the benefit. If you have anything else you need help with just let us know.

ebogo0902 Welcome to Hadit. I would get an IMO from a private doc that states that after a physical exam, review of your service records, and based on his professional opinion your current diagnosis is " at least as likely as not" directly attributable to to your s-c injury. In the IMO they state the tech reasons why x causes y. State in your appeal that you had evidence in your str's but they failed to find them, and ask them to look again. At the same time, if you can get a buddy letter, statement in support of the claim, from someone who knew of your med problems in the service, that would be golden. If not, a family member, spouse, etc. could comment about your service resulting in your foot problems.Then submit a supplemental claim. If your appeals have been submitted in a timely manner so that you comply with time restraints for appeals, you should get the EED from when you submitted. Don't worry about that at present; you probably will have to appeal that after you win. It's just is the VA way for lowballing the veterans' benefits.

Vync I couldn't agree more. It's a small step but if they actually use the data/info it could improve service. We hope!

Broncovet I believe I read someplace that our 1.3 was a COLA. I believe the proposed 3% for military is at least partly based on merit also.

Congrats! Super, hard work but worth it!!! And P%T. Fantastic.

I'd like to add that at least some of the contractors now send you a card asking what you thought about your C&P exam. Was it clean and orderly, did they see you on time, etc. The biggie is what did you think of the examiner, which is the real reason for the follow up questionare. You can also indicate if you want a follow up discuss further. That is what VES did nor me on my last one in January. So maybe some of the contractors are trying to improve the system. Mine was just there to provide ammo to deny.

Not wishing you any bad luck, but if denied, get more info and appeal on the depression as secondary to the tinnitus. It is worth it if your evidence isn't strong enough. Actually, I would have claimed mental health including but not limited to anxiety, depression, etc. Let the VA figure it out. You are looking to get a disability rating and appropriate comp; you shouldn't be to concerned what the VA calls the disability.

USMCScorpio Your personal info posted doesn't say what your combined disability rating is, but I think you already have some rating currently. So this isn't really for you but veterans should know that if you are rated with two or more 0% ratings, the VA will convert them into one 10% rating. You have two right now. Once you do get any rating of 10% or more, the original two go back to just 0's, but you are still s-c for them. If you have worsening conditions on your o% to result in a increase to 10% or higher for the same s-c condition also removes the rule for two 0% =a 10% also. Just to let others know. Point is a 0% rating is still valuable as you can upgrade your s-c condition as you get older. Two or more has the added value of converting into a comp based monthly grant, which is even better.

Gboyington Welcome to Hadit. It means that it is at the first stage. They received your claim and have assigned it to someone. To you or I, it means absolutly nothing. And, that message usually stays that way until they make a decision. HLR's are not updated on status like regular claims It runs 3 to 4 months to get an answer so do yourself a favor. Don't check on it every day. Or every other day for that matter. It's going to be a while.

PNC Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I don't have any direct info to share except for one thing. In the past if there has been a class action suit for a VA s-c disability, if the veteran joins the class action, he will may in effect waive any VA disability comp for the disability. Contact the law firms and ask; get more than one answer. I would also generate a IRIS inquiry to the VA and ask about the VA's position as well. If you are cut off from future comp, you have to weigh what is the best course of action for you and your family.

USMCScorpio Congrats Veteran! Way to go. And as you probably already know, Tinnitus can lead to other secondary conditions such as MH issues, so wait and see what your other decisions are and appeal if you can. If you aren't satisfied with the coming decision, let us know the facts and maybe we can help further.

Seabee7 Welcome to Hadit. The answer to the first question is absolutely. Secondary to your original s-c disability. Happens all the time. As to the pain question, I'm not sure what your disability is and what is secondary conditions you have. You need to understand what "pyramiding is and must have seperate symptoms from each other. Do you currently have a disability for back (disc) and were awarded a secondary for depression due to the pain from that? You may be able to get a secondary for other symptoms I believe if you can get a good IMO/nexus letter from a specialist. But the VA is going to try to say it's the same pain if they can.

Rob.Ram5953 The clerk on the phone is uninformed. If your s-c for over 5 years it is a RFE Routine Future Exam. They want to see if your condition has gotten any better or worse. It's not necessarily a bad thing at all. If your conditions have gotten worse, then you may get an increase in rating. Don't get into an adversarial situation with examiner about your file. Try asking something like "doc, did you see that ... as reported by my doc shows ...; that's on a doctor visit I had and should have been entered in my file? If you didn't see it, I have a copy right here for you." They don't have to take it, but sometimes they do. Just do your best-no arguments. Another thing,if you condition is rated the same by the examiner, ask him or her, "say doc, since it hasn't gotten any better or worse over the last 5 years, can you put in a suggestion for me to make it a static condition? They could. It is a win-win for you. If they do make it static, you shouldn't have any more RFE. If your condition gets worse and you chose to open it up for an increase, you can put in a claim for an increase in your rating. You'll do fine.

SPO whether or not you will need another future C&P exam is speculation. You don't know what the ruling is yet. But in theory, a new exam will be necessary if there isn't sufficient evidence to evaluate all of your current symptoms. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. If they require another C&P, be sure to go.

Bhut You should be good to go. Print out the letter that shows your full benefits. It is an official letter from the VA; that's what it is for. Your family will get full benefits. Congrats!

I agree with Buck. I always take critical evidence COPIES to my exam. I've had it both ways; usually it's "I already saw it in your file." Less often t "yes, I'll take a copy from you." After the exam I also jot down a few notes on the exam in case I need to bring them up later. So, in this case, I'd note that I gave a copy to the examiner.