Vcaa Election/response Form

[Berta]

Yesterday I was in K Mart-and a vet from the VA Dom came up to me and asked what the heck I mean here by the VCAA election Notice.

Here it is.

I never got one in over 4 years.

I believe it is this Notice that triggers the VA to actually read your claim and consider your evidence.

The VCAA letter that comes with it is supposed to state exactly what you need to send them.

They are not supposed to deny your claim until you get the VCAA letter and this notice-where you have elected Box 1 or Box 2 , then signed and returned it to the VA.

I have taken a strong stand on this whole issue with the VA in Wash DC.

It is a prejudicial error on VA's part NOT to send a legal VCAA letter and Notice.(Mayfield V Principi)

I received an immediate remand from the BVA based on this prejudicial error ,in my case,that has caused thousands of remands since the inception of the VCAA regs.

Here it is:

Along with the legal VCAA letter it is the most important document you will ever get from the VARO-

if you have a pending claim.

Election_Form_VCAA.doc

[theotherguy]

One thing to add to what Berta has provided:

They can and will rate the claim regardless of whether or not this form is returned. It basically allows for them to rate a claim without having to wait out the due process period provided by a VCAA development letter (60 days). However, it does not permit them to ignore any additional duty to assist requirements that might be in play; such as requesting private treatment records from a 21-4142, or requesting a VA examination. Since VA may grant a claim at any time (regardless of the age) and since due process is not required for a grant (except when only granting a 0% evaluation) this form only will be helpful to a claimant if he/she truly has no additional information to submit.

In other words, this form basically only comes into play if an issue is going to be denied. It doesn't necessarily mean that they won't grant anything; more so that they could rate both grants and denials prior to the expiration of the due process period afforded by VCAA. They can help get you benefits more quickly though so you definitely should certify that you have no further information to submit if that in fact is the case. I would not recommend that you waste a stamp simply to tell them you have more information to submit since the 60 day period has already been provided to you by the VCAA notice.

[sixthscents]

I think that the VCAA is important because it tells the veteran EXACTLY what evidence they need to support their claim, and what the VA rater is looking for. While I agree that it does render the 60 day wait null, I still think it is very important just for the fact that the information requested will help the veteran develop or perfect thier claim prior to BVA, or CAVC....

Thats my opinion anyway, and after reviewing several claims, I found exactly ONE VCAA notice...