broncovet

We need to join a "Shreddergate Victims Club".

I agree with Allan, Delta, and Mr. Higgins. It is incomprehensible to me that the VA shreds our evidence and gets away with it. And, Like Delta, they did the same thing to me. My C file is missing THOUSANDS of pages they should have had. Gone is all the evidence when the claim was in Roanoke. Gone is RO decisions, VCAA letters, medical exams, even parts of the original 21-526...because they erroneously sent me the ORIGINALS when they were supposed to send me copies. I sent the RO a message at IRIS, asking them if they had copies of my RO decisions, that is, did they have an electronic copy of these because they were not in my copy of c file. They himmed and hawwed, and I realized they had no copy of their own decision!! They also had no copies of their VCAA letters. I have the ONLY copies!! This is incredible. They shred their own stuff. My claim is at the BVA now, and I know my file is WOEfully incomplete. They asked me, in an IRIS to send them new signed medical release forms. They also told me they have no POA from my VSO and they had to have shredded that as I have been receiving letters from my VSO for about 5 years. I did not respond. I dont even know if they have access to my current medical records. I want them to ADMIT they Shredded my CLAIM. I know they did..they know they did..the BVA will know they did. The records that have not been shredded are too paltry. I have a paper trail..they dont..but they wont admit it. But, by not admitting they shredded evidence, they have to keep lying, covering up lies, more lies, and more cover ups. But the truth is going to come out, because Im gonna persist until it does.

Well, you sure deserve money for "aggravation" as there is no judge in the world who could possibly say the VA is not "aggravating". Im thinking the VA is becoming a major cause of PTSD and depression.

Congrats, Chuck: "Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for Chuck". Please feed that Eagle, and instruct him to drop his next check at my house. Way to go!!!

If the VA recieves an "informal claim" either through the Veteran or his representative, the VA has a duty to send the Veteran a formal claim form. The Veteran is required to show "intent to file for benefits" to establish the effective date. I would speculate that if your wife filed papers in your behalf, and you did nothing to prevent this, that would establish "intent" to file for benefits. Surely, a sick Veteran could ask his wife to fill out paperwork for him. I think Carlie is right that it should have your signature..but I dont know what would happen, if, for whatever reason, you could not sign the document.

Yes, there has been a lot of discussion on this. Having read on this, I recommend: 1. Keep your VA check deposits in a seperate account. That is, dont have your VA check, social security, and railroad retirement deposited to the same account, because, then you can get into a legal battle "that was not VA money that was garnished..it was money from another source". 2. Tell your bank and make em write on your records this account is exclusively for deposit of VA benefit checks. Reason: If the bank "doesnt know" this is a VA deposit account, then it could honor garnishments...and you would have to hire a lawyer to TRY to get your money back. Avoid this if all possible like the bubonic plague. 3. Of course, manage your money wisely and avoid garnishments altogether. Write a letter to a creditor if you dont think you owe his bill. Often the bill will be assumed to be valid by the courts if you do not "protest" the bill within a reasonable period of time. 4. Remember, that in the case of child support payments or IRS stuff..this protection probably wont help you a lot. There are court cases about Vets who protested this, but I am pretty sure not all the Vets won.

I agree that, based on what you posted, you have an "open" claim, and, if awarded, you can file an EED for retro back to 1990. However, grab your popcorn for "Rocky VII" because you are in for the fight of your life. Start training at the gym now, because its likely gonna take ten years. Expect the VA to delay this until you die. It is a virtual certainty this wont be approved by a rating specialist at the RO level. BVA is minimum, and I am really thinking it will take CAVC or above to get this effective date. The VA is famous for fighting these tooth and nail....they dont pass out 600,000 checks at parades to children who scramble for the goodies. Most Vets give up or pass away first. Dont be one of them.

Most everyone knows that GM offers a big discount to military "active and reserve". Has anyone gotten a discount on a GM car or truck with a 100% P and T "military" Id card? My id card works for almost everything on post. It gets me on post, commissary...even most "MWR" stuff, such as the gym on post. My question is has anyone gotten a GM "military" discount with their disabled Vet military ID? I went to the chatline at GM discounts, and the lady there said no, but I think she may have not known what she is talking about. GM also offers a $750 discount for USAA members, and USAA membership is free to military, and I heard it was opened to VETS, too. https://www.usaa.com...offer_exclusive It is also here, if you scroll across: http://www.gm.com/ve.../currentoffers/ I will add that military discount is not a big deal by itself because the credit union members get the same GM pricing as military, HOWEVER, credit union members dont get the 750 off for USAA, so military discount would mean about another $750. If I get all the discounts, I may even be able to afford the car...thanks..

I applaud Terry Higgins...he has made it clear the VA destroyed evidence, and it has been covered up for decades. Tho I am not familiar with his circumstances, I know well what he is up against as the VA has destroyed not one or two but thousands of pages of my evidence. In a "real" court, tampering with evidence is a crime. In the VA it is SOP, and has been for many years. During a VAOIG investigation, VA employees were told to "just shred a few pages at a time" by their supervisors. This employee's story was confirmed by the sheer number of Veterans affected...41 out of 57 Regional Offices. This is not a single employee not knowing what is evidence and what is last weeks Burger King wrapper. The VA continued this for years, and did not stop until Larry Scott published it on VA watchdog, which stirred up a hornets nest. Frankly, I am very suprised Larry Scott still has his VA benefits. The whistleblower act protects employees, but I do not see that it protects Veterans from retaliation by the VA. Further, as Terry Higgins points out, the nightmare is far from over for Vets. Dr. Peake published a directive that Vets were to be given the benefit of the doubt in shredded evidence, and Terry Higgins points out this is not happening. Its the same old coverup, and the only way to hold the VA accountable is to hit them where it hurts...right in the media. Right now, the VA is playing management by "putting out fires" and is classic Business Management 101 "Poor management technique". The only fix I can see is to either fire top management at the VA or, to have a real leader inserted that makes it abundandtly clear this management style will not be tolerated in the future. Otherwise, this will continue simply "because they can".

First and foremost, I will stick up for Berta, who has helped hundreds. Altho she is not perfect either, she has volunteered her time and efforts to help, literally, hundreds of Vets, to which I am one. I may add that she is one of the best, if not the best researchers available. I have read hundreds of Berta's posts as well as hundreds of articles written by the well known Jim Strickland on watchdog. Berta's responses are better than Jim's, as her knowledge has more "depth". Berta will think nothing of researching case law for 2 hours to help a Vet, and I do not see that kind of "depth" with Jim Stricklands answers. Berta's answers are much more detailed than Jims. Jim gives good answers generally on the RO level, but for appeals, Berta wins this contest hands down. I just have not seen Jims answers demonstrate that he has researched case law on his answers, while Berta's answers often do this. The difference is that Jim Strickland wont be rating or making a decision on anyones claim, while Berta researches opinions and cases of people who DO adjuticate claims. It is your choice of who to follow the advice: Jim Strickland, who shoots from the hip, or Berta, who consults what judges have decided. I know my answer. There is, IMHO, ONE and ONLY one poster (on the net) who has knowledge of VA law even close to Berta. That would be "Ask Nod". Like Berta, Ask Nod has read thousands and thousands of VA cases. Berta's speciality is Widows benefits, while Ask Nod's is hep C and service connection. http://hcvets.com/index.html

A "staged" rating normally applies when the Veterans doctor documents a worsening condition over time. For example, Your rating might be 0% prior to 1985 then 20% from July 1985 through Aug. 2004 when the doc did another exam and found you condition worsened, Then it may be 100% in July 2006 when your doc said you were P and T. The medical evidence needs to be there to justify a staged rating, they are not supposed to "pluck it from air".

You have two seperate issues: 1 Service Connection. This is probably going to boil down to whether or not your doctor says something very close to : "The Veterans hypothyroidism and BPH is at least as likely as not due to a baseball injury suffered during military service". If the doc says something like this you will probably be awarded "service connection" for your disabilities...if he does not, then you will either need to get another doc to rebut his opinion, or you will be denied. 2. Disability ratings. If service connected, your disability rating will likely be on the degree of symptoms. We dont know how bad it is, so any guess is well just a guess. However, IF YOU ARE NOT working, (with little/no income or assets) AND if your military service was at least in part DURING wartime, then you may be eligible for Non Service Connected Pension. This is a little over 1000 per month, depending upon how many dependents, and is NEEDS based..not based on your service connected disabilitie(s).

This is a good explanation of objective and subjective evidence: Evidence: Objective versus Subjective "What is the difference between objective and subjective evidence?" SUBJECTIVE EVIDENCE is evidence that you cannot evaluate -- you have to simply accept what the person says or reject it. For example, Fred says "My foot hurts a lot." Is he lying? How much is "a lot"? What is Fred's idea of "pain"? ... a sharp, stabbing pain, or just his foot "fell asleep"? Harry says "That was a hard test!" Compared to what? Did he study? Is this just a subject he finds particularly difficult? Bill says "Boy, that was a great football game!" Compared to what? Who was playing? ... his son, the team he coaches, him, two pro teams? OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE is evidence you can examine and evaluate for yourself. If Fred walks in with a cane, and a knife stuck in his foot, you can make a decision without hearing Fred's opinion! If you read the test Harry talked about, you can decide for yourself whether it's hard. If you see a video of the football game, you might see great plays, high scores, a last-minute win, etc. End of quote: IMHO things like TESTS are objective: You cant think your blood alcohol level low. But...if you report to the doctor, my head hurts bad 3 times per week, I can not concentrate because of PTSD flashbacks, etc...those are subjective...that is, the "subject" reports something and it is unconfirmed by medical tests. If you report, "Gee, I have no leg"...that is subjective, but it can be confirmed by an objective medical examination....your doctor could observe you have no leg, regardless of what you say/dont say.

This is an answer I give sometimes to someone who asks questions I dont want to answer. Try it..you will have to practice: "Without being informed to the highest degree of accuracy I hesitate to articulate in that it may deviate from the true course of rectitude" If they ask what that means, you can repeat it...or, you can give them the answer to what it means by saying, "Huh?" Another good way to answer a nosy persons question is by asking a question instead. If they say, for example, "Where did you get your money"....ask them "Where did you get yours?" Remember, whenever you let someone ask you questions..and you respond..you have given them control. Here is how I "take control" over telephone solicitors. Solicitor, "Is this Jim Smith?" Me: "Who is calling please?" (I never respond who I am until I know who they are..never..If you call me..be prepared to tell me who you are, before you get one shred of information from me) Solicitor: "Cathy" (Notice...now they are answering my questions..I have taken control) Me: "Who are you with?" Solicitor: Im with Zoom Telephone (or collection) company. Me: No Thanks..not interested. dont call here again. Hang up. (I finally answered their question..after I got the information I wanted first. This works for collectors, too. I hear them always say, "IM not a telephone solicitor, I have personal business with.....(dial tone)....If they call back, I repeat it.

I think that Pete is right. I know complicated cases are sometimes referred to the "Tiger Team" located in Cleveland. This is part of the reason why Cleveland RO is so bad. You see, there was a "brain drain", where all the top talented rating specialists were recruited to the Cleveland Tiger team, leaving only the least experienced and least talented rating specialists to rate claims in Ohio. It would kind of be like a new expansion football team who only could pick from ONE team and pick out all the best players for the new team, and leave all the bad or marginal players to play at the old team. The NFL was smart enough not to do that..it would take decades for the "victim team" to recover, so when a new expansion team comes in, the expansion team picks one or two players from each NFL team...its the only fair way. The new expansion team needs experience also...to become competitive...and not just all rookies. Cleveland has never recovered from taking the best for the Tiger Team, IMHO. You see, they did not even have any experienced people to train the others..they were gone and newbies took over Cleveland....always a prescription for disaster. The pressure got to the manager, and she started shredding Vets evidence because "single issue " claims are much faster to work than "multiple issue" claims. Here is how the VA dealt with it: http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfdec08/nf120408-1.htm

A "VCAA letter" is a letter you get from the Regional office informing you about the Veterans Claim Assistance Act, I think it was year 2000. This letter is part of the VA's "Duty to Assist" the Veteran, in part, in obtaining medical records for purposes of obtaining VA disability compensation benefits. The VCAA letter normally comes a few months, or sometimes even a month or less after your formal application for benefits. IMHO the VCAA letter is largely VA gobbledygook BUT in certain circumstances it can become very meaningful. It can provide "legal loopholes" for the Veteran..especially if the VA does not fully comply with VCAA. If you dont already know this, the VA is not Santa.. Instead, they often use every trick in the book to keep Santa out of your familys chimney on Christmas eve. Any excuse to delay or deny. The VA does not believe ONE word of what you say, but they beleive everything they say...so that is why I use THEIR OWN WORDS against them.. Some of us go for years or even decades because Regional Office people did not read our evidence. I will use an example of mine, where I am NAILING the VA on its VCAA letter. The VA sent me a letter back in 2002, asking me to submit "evidence of a physical OR MENTAL disability". "to determine my eligibilty for disability compensation benefts. So, I sign the medial information release form, authorizing the VA to see my records, then I go to the VA doc and he notes that I am depressed. The VA "forgets" about this, processes my hearing loss claim, which, of course, they deny. I appeal. In appeal, the BVA says..."Gee, the Vets audiologist said his "hearing loss is most likely due to noise exposure in military service"....so what is the problem? The BVA awards me service connection for hearing loss....at zero percent, still forgetting about depression AND that I told my doc I could not get a job. (that is evidence of a claim for TDIU). Further, my VCAA letter acknowledged my application for disability COMPENSATION...benefits...not for service connection, like the BVA letter says. Why the difference? Well "service connection" can be zero percent (mine was). But I was not asking for "service connection"...according to the VCAA letter I was seeking compensation (money). So my BVA award, I contend, was for money, not zero percent lollipops. Further, I am using the VCAA letter as "intent to apply for VA benefits"....that is...the VA sends me a letter to submit evidence of a mental disability for compensation and when I do so...that should suffice as "intent", right? No..the VA is fighting me...trying to say "We didnt know you intended to apply for depression..just hearing loss". (I have been awarded depression...but 5 years later) You see the Veteran has to demonstrate INTENT to file for benefits..not just go to the doc for treatment..but intent. Now, Im NAILING the VA..."Gee..you sent me a letter to help me file for benefits (VCAA letter). ...asking for evidence...so I give you the evidence, and now you say I did not intend to apply for benefits..." The problem is, of course, that the VA shredded more than 2000 pages of my evidence..but I still have to prove I "intended to apply for a benefit" to get my five years of retro. Im using THEIR letter against them. They shredded that VCAA letter, too, but I have a copy so I sent it to them!! This is how it works at the VA..we use the regs against them...they WILL use them against us.. The regs and case law is a weapon. The VA normally gets their way with us, because we dont know how to use the weapon. Well, hadit members know!! Berta KNOWS how to use their weapons against them!! And she helps us. She is the best.

Autumn Your preaching to the choir...I know well how I would love to change RO's. I think I recall reading somewhere that the RO location is determined where you live...and, except by moving cant be changed. It reminds me of the "bad school" thing. I know I would love my kids to attend a different school district...but it was not allowed...probably because the "bad schools" would essentially be abandoned and all the teachers would lose their jobs. Ditto for the RO's. I do think "inserting capitalism" into the RO's and schools would be good and raise the level several notches. RO's would "compete" for Veterans instead of "complaining" about them. ...getting paid by how many Vets go to their RO...just like car companies or insurance companies or food companies do now. They "compete" for the consumer. Just think if love were governmentalized: "Unit 407896? Yes, you have been assigned to me for the purpose of procreation. Have you completely filled out your 21-478 form, in triplicate so we can begin the procreation process? It looks like your item line #13 has been checked "NO". A no in this box prohibits procreation. Next applicant please."

This is a new one on me. Can some one elaborate on the "fast letter" to reopen a claim? I like this "Larry idea", but has anyone tried it and it worked? Are you suggesting citing the "fast letter" as new and material evidence, or which fast letter are you talking about? Thanks. Bronco

The "Why" is easy. If your claim is stuck someplace like Cleveland, St. Pete, Buffalo, etc...its easy to know why: The bottom line is that Veterans in some states are more likely to get awarded benefits than those in other states. This explains WHY Vets would want to change Regional Offices: http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/04/tracey_boulian_hank_vasil_of.html As far as I know the Veteran can not switch RO's ...or else the bad ones would have to shut down for lack of customers. I would "LOVE" to switch RO's...to one like Maine or New Mexico. It would almost certainly mean a higher benefit level. The VA OFTEN "farms claims out" if they are busy, allegedly to get claims out faster. My RO "farmed out" my claim at least twice, and it resulted in further delays. The VA can switch you...but I was not awared if/how Vets can switch, especially if they have not gotten a fair shake in their first RO.

Berta, Hoppy, and John have given you good advice. I will add to look in your records for symptoms of depression, not necessarily a diagnosis of depression, and put those symptoms in your appeal. It is likely they may be trying to "hornswaggle" you because you may not have been diagnosed with depression in service, even if you reported symptoms. Why is this important? Lets just take ONE example, a hypothetical one, but not really "far fetched". You go to the sick bay and report symptoms of depression: You know, poor sleep habits, low energy, suicidal ideations, feeling down, etc, etc. You are seen by a medic or corpsman...he writes down your symptoms...(you could be going to get cough syrup, for that matter). He gives you some cough syrup, and sends you back home. Now...you have reported symptoms, but no diagnosis...Why? Well the corpsman or medic you saw is not qualified to diagnose depression...even if you reported every depression symptom. So you have no diagnosis. Fast forward to you get out of the military....you go to the VA...this time you wind up with a mental health doc. He says..."your depressed" and gives you prozac, zoloft, etc...and treats you. Now...the Va checks your records...and sure enough no depression diagnosis in service, so they deny you. This is the hornswaggle..you dont need a diagnosis of depression...you just had symptoms, and the doc did not diagnose it until much later. It is not your fault the corpsman or medic either 1) did not diagnose you or 2) he did not refer you to a mental health doc. You see..there may not even have been a mental health doc there, so he could not refer you to one. So, you can try appeling this, or you can get another doc to say something like, "I reviewed your records..and they showed your depression symptoms began in military service. In light of the Veterans treatment for 15 years for depression it is at least as likely as not the Veterans depression is related to military service". You may be able to find a "Veteran friendly doc" at the VA, like I did, or, you can get and IME, IMO. Of course, the Vet friendly doc is cheaper, and will probably work just as well...assuming you can find a Vet friendly mental health doc at your VAMC. You may have to change if your doc is not Vet friendly...you can discuss this with him! JMHO.

If you are trying to do research to support case law to support your claim, I would humbly suggest you search CAVC cases first. While this has been discussed before, CAVC cases which are "panel" (3 judges) or en banc (all the judges) are considered precedential, while BVA or "single judge" CAVC cases are non-precedential. In other words if you have a similar situation as the claimant, the VA judge is required to rule in a similar manner in all precendial cases. However, if the case is not precedential, the judge may or may not consider how another judge ruled in a similar case. That being said, BVA cases often cite CAVC, or even Federal cases, so BVA decisions are helpful in preparing your case as Berta has pointed out. I am not disputing what BERTA said...that BVA cases can help you learn from the get go how to word your claim...but if you want to cite a case, given a choice, you make it stronger by citing a precedential case. If there is no precedential case, then certainly cite the BVA case, or as Berta suggested, cite several. I think some poeple here have opined that they use BVA cases and cite them in defending their positiion..and that is okay...but I do think if you cite precedential case law, you are making a stronger case in support of your position, but that is JMHO.

I agree with PR. If you are unhappy with when the bank posts your deposit, you can let the bank manager know about this. If they dont respond to your liking, then you have the option of changing banks. I just wish we could change Regional Offices when the one we deal with is a pain. I can go to any post offfice I like, whether or not it is in my town. And, because of this, they are probably going to close "weak" post offices due to the post office not having the money. In the future, we will probably see that happen with RO's too.

Yes, I agree that getting rid of the rating board lowered decision quality. There use to have to be a MD on the rating board, who advised on medical issues. In my social security decision there was a "board"...a judge, a stenographer who took notes, and a md (or two) adviser on a telephone conference call with the judge and me at the hearing. It was much more fair and thorough. That way, one decision maker does not have to much power.

As Carlie has pointed out there is a difference between a MFR and a Request for Reconsideration, mainly on the level of appealate review. The NOD is supposed to give the BVA juristdiction to review the RO decision. The Veteran has to do other things to perfect his appeal. Just one NOD wont do. He must then respond to the SOC and file an I 9, with the Ro's assistance. But the Request for Reconsideration does not seem to accelerate the appeal level..it stays at the RO level, and the Vet submits new evidence. I dont think the RFR gives the BVA the authority to review..only the NOD does that. I agree with Berta that the SAFEST way is to file a request for reconsideration, AND file a NOD before the year. I also agree that RAK Warrior is very knowledgeable, and has posted helpful information. But I also know the VA is extremely UNFORGIVING about failure to file a NOD on time...no matter what. I think there is a chance that both are right. In other words...when the Veteran files for reconsideration...the claim becomes "continiously prosecuted" as Rak said. But, I dont think this "tolls" the 1 year deadline to file a NOD. However, Henderson Shinseki may change that. This supreme court case "revived" Equitable tolling, since cases before it seemed to have killed it. Equitable tolling seems to be the only instance when the 1 year appeal period is extended. Now, if the Veteran files for reconsideration...and the VA makes no decision on it for a year...the Veteran may be able to ask for "equitable tolling " the one year period...that is the VA's failure to act on the reconsideration request timely MAY "toll" the one year appeal period. Previously, before Henderson, the courts had ruled that the one year appeal period was jurisdictional, and the courts had no right to even entertain cases which were not timely appealed. Now, however, post Henderson, the Veteran may ask for equitable tolling. For me, tho, I dont want to get into an arguing match..its easier to just file the NOD on time no matter what. JMHO.

I think there is ONE major difference between an "increase" and a new claim. You see, A Veteran only has to file ONE FORMAL Claim. Everything else is an increase from that. The reason it is such a big deal is the effective date: Ok, let me use an example. A visit with your doctor can be an informal claim for INCREASE, but it is not a Formal claim. The reason it can be an informal claim for INCREASE, is if you have already filed a formal claim, so there is a lot of stuff you dont have to do over again. IMHO, you should file for an increase, send it certified mail return receipt requested. Dont count on the VA to process it anytime soon if your C file is somewhere in appeals, but they are supposed to make a temporary file, and then "merge" the temp and permanent when your claim gets back from appeals. By waiting to file, you hurt you effecitve date. JMHO.