vetinpa

Congrats inthewind, you deserve it all!

Me too, I am hoping it won't too much longer, hoping by end of next week. anyone know how long it takes for retro to hit the bank once ebenefits says everything is closed?

and congrats to you too inthewind, I think the waiting is the hardest part, especially when you live with your condition everyday. At least we got some positive outcomes for a change. Keep us posted and I will do the same on the envelope and the date of retro. :)

I hear ya, I am there now, trying to stay busy, lol.

Got a call on Friday from VARO, they were completing my appeal and adding my dependants. By Friday evening I could see on ebenefits everything was closed, rating went up to 90% with the correct amount with new rating, added dependents and SMC. Now just have to wait on the envelope and the money, VARO said it could be as early as Tuesday because of the holiday. He said it was a good amount. It is enough to pay down my mortgage which I have been trying to get done, so I am pleased with that. Should have a little extra to do other things with. We will see, he could not nail down a number because of figuring all the factors in. Didn't want to push too much either when it should be in the bank soon enough, I figure next week sometime. This claim goes back to 2003 according to my records but they are doing retro from 2007 when additional diagnosis was put in place, have to wait till I ge the paperwork to see what their explanation is there and then decide what to do about it. Reading here, I think this last part should move pretty quickly, deposit of retro and envelope right? I know some folks say the retro sometimes hits the bank before the letter arrives. This really takes a lot of stress off my plate, thank you to those who gave me the case management number, I was amazed that after one day, one call I got almost instant results, probably would still be waiting if I didn't make the call.

Yes, finally did get a hold of someone this morning, and they finalized my dependant claim, on ebenefits I am now at 90%, with SMC, new amount, new effective date. Also got a ball park on retro. Can not believe all it took was this one phone call to get this done. They said I should see the retro with in a week because of the holiday, if it is anything like they say I will be a happy camper, paying off my mortgage, turning the ringer off and enjoying myself.

deanbrt Thank you so much, had two phone messages from my varo, called back and my appeal was completed over the phone. Letter will be processed today and I will be at 90%, retro is coming, nothing official in my hand yet, but wanted to let you know that I appreciate your advice and help!

Got through, guy was kind of snappy at first, UGG, but then he after about 2 minutes took my information and once he seen the age on the grant of benefits he was more empathatic and put an inquiry in for me, all he would tell me is that I am close to being paid. BUT that it should have been done by now. I told him that is all I wanted to know but he said at this point an inquiry would speed things up for me. So he got a little nicer towards the end of the call, but he was not very nice at first. But when I got home this afternoon there was a call from my regional office with a real phone number to call them back, will call tommorro morning.

I am gonna be trying today. Can't see mine on ebenefits, :(

I tried probably 20 times today, I will try again tommorro, the 800 number tells me that it is closed, its waiting on a review and authorization but that it is in the notification phase, yet they can not see it, circles is right, I am getting dizzy. Tommorro is 14 business days in this phase, that is pittsburghs average, they say may take a little longer because of retro, well almost all come with retro, va don't approve most claims on first try. I will definately try it again tommorro. will post the results, thanks again. I am pretty sure they will be doing staged ratings, so I am sure the math was a little time consuming, but they have had it long enough already.

I will, what did they do for you?

Keep getting a recording, seems like they are all busy working with other veterans.

I will give that a shot, thank you very much, will let you know the outcome.

I will worrying about all that stuff this winter, thats when everything starts really kicking my butt. Hoping to hear something on my present case here this week, seems like forever it has been at my VARO from the BVA, Been almost 9 months.

No, I am still working, can't afford to quit, I will be looking at this as soon as I get some debt knocked down, not much, just need be able to afford to live through the long wait of VA decisions, I have documentation on how my service connected disabilities affect my job, I have service connected fibromyalgia that falls under the gulf war syndrome, along with a sleep disorder, chronic fatique and chronic pain. I miss alot of work because of these. My ptsd is a big factor with my job too, I have some hellacious mood swings towards afternoon. I have medication for all thee listed above but it can only do so much. I did not want to put my family in a position of losing our home so I continue to drive on through all my issues. I will definately be looking at this a little later, have to evaluate my situation a little more closely. You can not file for this or social security while working right?

I already have a 40, a 40 and a 30 which gives me the rating of 80%, these two I am waiting on are additional. Already Service connected Back 40% Skin 30% Gulf War syndrome several issues 40% Waiting to be rated Hysterectomy (should be 30%) PTSD (Not sure how they will rate this one)

Thanks, I am hoping to hear something soon, I am at 80% already, I think it is pretty hard to get to 100%, I have two issues that were granted from the BVA, one is a hysterectomy, automatically a 30% and the other (Major depression, OCD namely PTSD) not real sure what they will do with it. But the good ole VA math 80 +30=___?, Any thought deanbrt?

Does it update immediately?

Tommorrow will be 15 days since my grant of benefits went into notification, supposedly Pittsburgh timeframe in that phase is 14 days, however they say it may take a little longer because the reviewers have to review retro pay. Hope to hear something this week so I can jump over to the success stories side of the house and add something there. I know the wait is almost over now, hopefully.

I hear you, DAV has really been dissapointing at local level. very hard to get a hold of too. I know they can see what is going on, the american legion used to get up, walk down the hall and give me an answer the same day. I will be changing back as soon as this is over.

To clarify, it was officially completed on 8/13/12, that is all they could tell me, they (800 number) said there is nothing in the system yet, hopefully soon, anyone have any guesses? Yeah Painter, you would think it would have been faster since it had already spent a big residency at my varo anyway. When I call my VSO, which I am a life member they are just plain rude, They were fine in washington but the regional guys can be pretty ignort at times. They said, when we know you'll know, we will send you a letter. Used to have a different VSO, could slap myself for changing. I will soon as this claim is completely done. Gonna write their headquarters and let them know they need to grease their customer service skills up!

Finally went into notification phase, they are telling me they are waiting for approval, not real sure what that means, any one know? as far as I know this phase is 25 days. Went into this phase on 8/13/2012.

So July 30 made 7 months my VARO has had my grant of benefits, went into decision phase on June 4, so August 4 made 60 days in that phase. Totally ridiculous, wait and wait and wait and wait.

I had this happen and my VARO has had it since 12/30/11 and still no rating yet, it can be a long wait for this part too. where is your varo?

Great news, congrats!