Vcaa Notice Response

[Bound4heaven]

Greetings,

I am working on a cliam for a severely disable vet (Aid & Attendence). About 4 weeks ago they sent him a VCAA Notice Response. He signed it as all necessary edivence has been submitted and he marked make a decision at best possible speed. He called today and the Vet rep at our RO said they were waiting on it, and he inflormed them it was sent in a month ago.

With my expirence with the VA they got it. They either lost it or threw it away (not saying on purpose). I am asking for some advice. I believe I can type up a letter very close to a VCAA Notice Response and send them 2 copies in different envelopes. I have learned that years ago send every piece of edivence twice (I realize more stamps, but it increases the odds).

Is this the best way to handle this issue?. I try to calm the vet, but he gets severe panic attacks, and when he deals with the VA, well we all should know why right? Thanks for all your help and God bless you all.

Bound4Heaven

[Guest jangrin]

Bound For Heaven,

Here is a copy and paste of the last page with the option BOXES on One of Three VCAA letters thar Chuckles recieved. Make sure to put the appropriate VARO address on the top of the page.

I would go ahead and retype this of copy and print and have your friend sign it. Make copies and send it in return reciept requested. I might even have it notorized. Most banks have a notory and would probably do it for free for a disabled VET. i hope this helps.

Jangrin

VARO

Address

City State ZIP

Date___________

Claim Number

Claimant Name

VCAA NOTICE RESPONSE

We provided you a notice about the evidence and information V A needs to substantiate your claim for benefits. At this time, if you choose to, you may indicate whether you intend to submit additional information or evidence you know about that would help support your claim.

Your signature on this response will not affect whether or not you are entitled to V A benefits. It will not affect the amount of benefits to which you may be entitled. It will not affect the assistance VA will provide you in obtaining evidence to support your claim. It also will not affect the date any benefits will begin if your claim is granted. Your response will let us know whether to adjudicate your claim without waiting 60 days or whether we should give you more time to provide us with information or evidence.

RESPONSE

I elect one of the following: (Whichever box you check, you have one year form the date of the notice to give V A any other information or evidence you think will support your claim.)

 I have no other information or evidence to give V A to substantiate my claim. Please decide my claim as soon as possible.

 I have more information or evidence to give to V A to substantiate my claim. V A will wait at least 60 days before deciding my claim to give me a chance to submit this information or evidence.

Claim Number:__________________

Service Number ________________

Signature ___________________ Date _________________________

[Chuck75]

There are two issues.

1. VCAA response

2. Method to insure that the VA acknowledges receipt of it.

1. I would not try to exactly copy a VCAA response letter, unless I had the original. I would reference it as the VCAA letter you (the VA) sent to me on or about (date)

And then state the response.

2. Registered Mail or personal delivery with receipt signed by a person authorized to do so.

3. I might copy the administrator/director of the VARO with a statement that the response was sent previously, and somehow lost or mislaid by the VA.

The whole subject of the VCAA gets me upset. Everyone I've received does not meet the requirements, in that specific information needed to favorably decide a claim is not identified. The statements are always general requests for medical information and anything else the vetern thinks might help. The regs and law, as I understand tham, require that the VA identify specific information that they require, in addition to any that they may already have. No VCAA letter I've ever received has contained this information, even when I requested it under the the "duty to assist" clause.

Greetings,

I am working on a cliam for a severely disable vet (Aid & Attendence). About 4 weeks ago they sent him a VCAA Notice Response. He signed it as all necessary edivence has been submitted and he marked make a decision at best possible speed. He called today and the Vet rep at our RO said they were waiting on it, and he inflormed them it was sent in a month ago.

With my expirence with the VA they got it. They either lost it or threw it away (not saying on purpose). I am asking for some advice. I believe I can type up a letter very close to a VCAA Notice Response and send them 2 copies in different envelopes. I have learned that years ago send every piece of edivence twice (I realize more stamps, but it increases the odds).

Is this the best way to handle this issue?. I try to calm the vet, but he gets severe panic attacks, and when he deals with the VA, well we all should know why right? Thanks for all your help and God bless you all.

Bound4Heaven

[Berta]

The VCAA has turned into (since Nov 2000) in my opinion -one big scam-the biggest VA scam since they withheld Nehmer retro---from thousands of AO vets.

The election Notice response (I never received one either on any of my claims) is what triggers the VA to perform the next step on the claim-

It is almost as important as the proper VCAA letter spelling out in highlighted or underlined text exactly what evidence the VARO needs.

The provisions of Dingess Hartman also are to be part of the VA 's statement in the VCAA letter.

The host of tonight's SVR broadcast has already asked me to call in with my VCAA idea to Congressman Filner-

These radio shows go so fast- there might not be time for calls in- but the host expects my call-

I will ask Cong. Filner to consider my amendment and propose it in the House-if no time on the air for that I will promptly mail it to him ( well I will anyhow)

with the evidence I have for the need for this amendment I wrote to the VCAA.

R0s know full well-when they fail to send either a legal VCAA or an election notice that they have put the claim into limbo for years-

even if a vet -on their own- mitigates the illegal letter and sends in ample evidence for SC- without the election notice returned-the RO will let it sit around and then deny it-and at some point (since the vet did not respond to the election letter -because they didnt get one of course-how could they-

their claim will be transferred to the BVA and sit there for well over a year or more only to be remanded to the RO for a proper VCAA letter.

For 6 months my AO claim passed from adjudicator to VSM and back and forth-and one rep told me they have gotten three signatures from authorizers- he gave me dates and even the time was documented-

it was 6 months of BS- because many VARO individuals-if they read my I-9-KNEW the claim never received legal VCAA letter-

it then sat with the POA unknown to me- until the last minute for the POA to sign off- knowing I did not receive a legal VCAA letter.

All of my probative medical evidence was never considered-why should it be-

why take the time of federal employees to even read it- when their defiance of the VCAA gave them a way out

and when my POAs -they obviously knew- would not question it-

because even the director said what I got was "legal" when it was not.

Anyone in this situation -once the claim is transferred to the BVA (and no one told me on the POA even told me to expect this transfer) can act fast as I did- and get a remand in weeks not years-

If you have a rep who is just bidding their time to retire-they will not do a thing and allow this all to occur without attempting to get the RO to comply with the law.

The onus has to be put onto both service reps and Regional Offices to stop these illegal practices in defiance of the VCAA-the ultimate DTA reg we have.

I am still waiting for some info from James Terry-Chairman of the BVA- as to the stats on what vet orgs have the largest amounts of remands at the BVA due to VCAA violations-

BVA knows who they are-

this problem has been identified ad finitum as the major cause of the BVA backlog, it has been documented in testimony from various orgs and vet groups, as well as the public Knight Ridder report of some years ago-

STILL- NOTHING is being done about it and the goal of my limited time for VA claims help is being focused onto this sole issue because I just see too many remands that are unconscionable not to mention that vets at the BVA are dying-and will never see the compensation that a legal VCAA letter could have given them- if it stated what they needed to supply as evidence and if they were able to do that-

Many years ago some BVA lawyers were caught stuffing claims into drawers so they would not have to work on them.They were fully prosecuted.

This to me is the same type of deceit-when a VARO refuses to comply with the VCAA -sends out some generic form letter and no election letter-

they might as well have stuffed the claim into a drawer and forgot about it.

The director of NYSDVA as well as many vet reps there tried to tell me -in writing- that I received a legal VCAA letter on my AO death claim.

I never received anything on the other claims but the generic form for the AO claim with no election notice.

2 weeks ago another rep looked at the VCAA copy in my POA file and immediately said this is not legal! tell me about it-

If I didnt start raising hell I would still be in lala land at the BVA.

My claim is at the rating board.filed 4 1/2 years ago.

A legal VCAA letter in 2003 would have rendered a proper decision by now.

NYSDVA has a high VCAA remand rate- it took lots of time to obtain those stats myself- and I still am not done accessing their claims at the BVA-

obviously since no one there except one vet rep knew my letter was illegal-they probably have plenty of other vets and widows in la la land now too.

Your post here as well as another local situation I just become aware of-

re: the VCAA made me realise this AM- I have to start pushing for this amendent -that stuff takes a lot of time-

I am not waiting any longer for my state Senator to consider it-

someone else in the House or Senate will-

this could take hundreds of dollars in postage-I send every thing priority with tracking slip-

I have only a few weeks left until school starts and I intend to do all I can regarding this issue to get that backlog to stop.

I was even thinking last night- why doesn't the VARO -when they send the- "we have received your claim for comp" blah blah blah-just say-instead

"lots of luck- you may or may not get a legal VCAA letter and if not- your claim is already doomed "

Edited August 1, 2007 by Berta

[Bound4heaven]

Greetings to all,

Thanks for all your responses. Thank you Berta for the in-depth response. I had no idea about this response. I thought it was a good thing over the years. Just goes to show you you must be at your best game when dealing with the VA.

I did send in to the RO that the VCAA in question was never received and I pasted the infornmation that the vet in question wishes his claim to be decided asap. But then again don't we al want our claims decided asap? Thank again. God bless you all.

Bound4Heaven

[Chuck75]

It can be (and has been) argued that a return receipt means only that the recipient received something, not exactly what it was. This would seem to indicate that the VCAA reply should be hand delivered, and a copy stamped with an official VA stamp indicating date of receipt. I did this with SSA to prove that I had filed a request & forms in a timely manner.

Bound For Heaven,

Here is a copy and paste of the last page with the option BOXES on One of Three VCAA letters thar Chuckles recieved. Make sure to put the appropriate VARO address on the top of the page.

I would go ahead and retype this of copy and print and have your friend sign it. Make copies and send it in return reciept requested. I might even have it notorized. Most banks have a notory and would probably do it for free for a disabled VET. i hope this helps.

Jangrin

VARO

Address

City State ZIP

Date___________

Claim Number

Claimant Name

VCAA NOTICE RESPONSE

We provided you a notice about the evidence and information V A needs to substantiate your claim for benefits. At this time, if you choose to, you may indicate whether you intend to submit additional information or evidence you know about that would help support your claim.

Your signature on this response will not affect whether or not you are entitled to V A benefits. It will not affect the amount of benefits to which you may be entitled. It will not affect the assistance VA will provide you in obtaining evidence to support your claim. It also will not affect the date any benefits will begin if your claim is granted. Your response will let us know whether to adjudicate your claim without waiting 60 days or whether we should give you more time to provide us with information or evidence.

RESPONSE

I elect one of the following: (Whichever box you check, you have one year form the date of the notice to give V A any other information or evidence you think will support your claim.)

 I have no other information or evidence to give V A to substantiate my claim. Please decide my claim as soon as possible.

 I have more information or evidence to give to V A to substantiate my claim. V A will wait at least 60 days before deciding my claim to give me a chance to submit this information or evidence.

Claim Number:__________________

Service Number ________________

Signature ___________________ Date _________________________

[Guest jangrin]

Chuck75,

I agree with you that it is best to go to the VARO and have the VA hand stamp that they have recieved the "item" is question. However, it is not "always" possible for a veteran to be able to get to the VARO.

I suppose that with the advent of Veterans being able to hire attorneys that they may find an Attorney that would mail the requested documents and verify the contents. I am sure there are Attorneys that would work pro bono and verify a mailing for a Vet, nas an officer of the court.

Not too long ago this topic came up on Hadit and there is a "verification" of mailing that a "civilian" can mail to document a particular item was indeed mailed. So a veteran could ask a neighbor to verify contents and sign a form. And this document will stand up in court as a legal verified mailing. It is often used by offices that do not have a Notary Public to verify certain docs.

They simply fill out the form date, sign and say this is what they mailed.

It is my opinion that if you send doc's to the VA certified mail, they will get the doc's. Do you think that the VA throws away mail intensionally?

Everyone should do everything they can to protect themself and cover their bases. But they can always in writing through the IRIS system ask if such and such is in the file, or did they recieve such a certain item. If not re-send it or arrange to have it mailed and verified by a friend or neighbor or finally as you suggest drive to the VARO and hand deliver it to the VA.

Also, the VCAA Notice is a notice for the VA to go ahead and finalize a claim. If the Vet sends in a form that is a copy of an actual VA form and the content is the same as the needed VA form, then the form is a legal form, just because the VA didn't make the form does not mean that the content is not valid. If I needed the claim to be settled and the Va didn't send the proper form, I would make sure that they got what they needed to proceed in settleing the claim.I believe the intent is for the VA to aid the Veteran in perfecting their claim. I believe the benefit of doubt goes to the veteran, I don't know of any penalties for the veteran being pro=active on their own behalf.

Jangrin

Jangrin