tdiu Tdiu Telepone Call From R. O

[Josephine]

Well,

Just what I needed to get my nose to bleeding again.

I am sitting here crying and shaking.

Is he correct?

The Case Worker by the name of Joey called here, from the Huntington,

R. O and I just hung up on him.

He said if the VA found me to be " unemployable" due to service

connected illnesses. They would not pay me a penny

if my total income in the family was too high.

I told him, I hadn't made a dime since 1983, but he said, your

husband is working.

I told him, I understood, for compensation, my husbands income did

not come into play.

He said for me to read Title 38.

Where do I report this smart jerk too? and is he correct?

I might as well not turn in the papers if he is correct.

He said he had not received any copies, not even Senator Warner's.

May not go too good that I hung up on him and told him, I may have

to talk to a lawyer if he was correct about my husbands income.

Thanks,

Betty

Edited July 10, 2008 by Josephine

[ruby]

Betty,

I don't have an answer for you but I am truly sorry this happened and I hope he is incorrect.

What the heck does your husbands income have to do with your "service connected illness" your the one in the service not your husband.

Start reading CFR 38, better yet call the jerk back and ask for the specific code he is talking about.

If he is lying call your Senator. Do you live in a 1 party state to record calls. Actually if its federal calls you shouldn't have a problem in Federal Courts they consider all states one party states. I say this because if this guy is mistaken or flat out lying, go buy a recorder and record your conversation with him before you call him back. If its a lie and he says down the road he didn't say it, you got him dead to rights.

If he is lying or doesn't know his regs then you could get him in a lot of trouble with proof of what he said.

Ruby

[Berta]

You mean- I believe-the dependency allowance that the VA adds to any comp check-

I am unaware of ANY reg that says this dependency payment depends on the spouses income in any way at all-

When I won the FTCA I got a large lump sum payment-

but the VA still retained my daughter, who lived home at the time, as a dependent for the DIC amount.

Many of these Sos and reps are making good salaries and as disabled vets themselves with dependents-and they retain the dependency amount too-

I will try to find a reg that caps a spouses income for dependency rate- but I dont think there is any reg-

Anyone who gives wrong info or who is belligerent at the VA can be reported by first name in a complaint- filed via Iris under the Complaint thing.

Complaints via Iris go to the VBA in DC first and then to the RO-so there is some sort of computerized record of them and what RO is involved.

I got some 90 wonder spouting off crap to me a few years ago at the 800 number- he was very nasty- so I wrote it off as his having a bad day-

a few weeks later when I got him again at 800- he started in on me again and I filed an Iris complaint.

He never answered the 800# again when I called.

Some of these people just dont have a clue Josephine-

and no one knows that better than you- I just wish they would shape up or ship out-

I have gotten 3 phone calls from VA DC on some recent FOIAs I sent- even got one last night -

I opened a bag of worms with these FOIAs that VA doesnt know how to handle-

the FOIA guy who called me last night said I could reach him by phone any time and that he was handling one of the FOIAs.

(I know what a true FOIA will reveal-they have been skirting this issue for years now)

and then he told me he was new to the FOIA job.

I was disappointed to hear that-but another FOIA prompted 2 calls from the Gen Counsel to me already-

funny thing-my chances might be better with someone new who doesnt know how to parse their FOIA responses.

I might get the answer I want !

I giuess my long point here is that VA has new employees all the time- who often act like they know it all-

or simply burned out employees who just say anything at all at the 800#.

I just dont know where this guy was coming from.

The VA -all this time- has never suggested to you that your husband's income is too high for dependency allowance.

[vaf]

Betty, you're going to have to shake that off, OK hon? We don't bother to call the RO anymore on anything, because of two conversations we had that upset my husband so badly he wanted to drive the four hours south to confront the jerk he talked to. Now, we do everything via fax, e-mail, or through a congress critter.

One time, we got a guy who told us he wasn't paid to pick up faxes off the machine, that he was just paid to answer the phone and that was all (in other words, the fax we had just sent was going to sit on the machine forever if it were left up to him).

Another time, we were told that there was no such thing as 95% schedular rating, that it would either be 90% or 100%, and that we "ought to read 39 CFR." Yes, that's right, "39" not "38."

Both guys were arrogant and stupid. Plus, since we filed the writ of mandamus request with the Court, one of the things we were asked to do was to document our many attempts to get the information involved in that writ on our own, over the years, with the various components of the VA. If we had done this through phone calls, of course there would be no such documentation, and the VA would deny they ever heard from us.

File an IRIS complaint and name names. That will go in the claims file of course, but that's what you want. And by the way, compensation is not means tested. Pension is, of course, which you already know. Compensation is not, and I have been working all the years since my husband was medically retired. My husband's rating has always been for disability compensation, not for pension. My wages have never been asked about, or had anything to do with compensation for having dependents. The guy you spoke to needs training, and definitely to be kept away from the phone and any rating issues until he gets some.

[Josephine]

You mean- I believe-the dependency allowance that the VA adds to any comp check-

I am unaware of ANY reg that says this dependency payment depends on the spouses income in any way at all-

When I won the FTCA I got a large lump sum payment-

but the VA still retained my daughter, who lived home at the time, as a dependent for the DIC amount.

Many of these Sos and reps are making good salaries and as disabled vets themselves with dependents-and they retain the dependency amount too-

I will try to find a reg that caps a spouses income for dependency rate- but I dont think there is any reg-

Anyone who gives wrong info or who is belligerent at the VA can be reported by first name in a complaint- filed via Iris under the Complaint thing.

Complaints via Iris go to the VBA in DC first and then to the RO-so there is some sort of computerized record of them and what RO is involved.

I got some 90 wonder spouting off crap to me a few years ago at the 800 number- he was very nasty- so I wrote it off as his having a bad day-

a few weeks later when I got him again at 800- he started in on me again and I filed an Iris complaint.

He never answered the 800# again when I called.

Some of these people just dont have a clue Josephine-

and no one knows that better than you- I just wish they would shape up or ship out-

I have gotten 3 phone calls from VA DC on some recent FOIAs I sent- even got one last night -

I opened a bag of worms with these FOIAs that VA doesnt know how to handle-

the FOIA guy who called me last night said I could reach him by phone any time and that he was handling one of the FOIAs.

(I know what a true FOIA will reveal-they have been skirting this issue for years now)

and then he told me he was new to the FOIA job.

I was disappointed to hear that-but another FOIA prompted 2 calls from the Gen Counsel to me already-

funny thing-my chances might be better with someone new who doesnt know how to parse their FOIA responses.

I might get the answer I want !

I giuess my long point here is that VA has new employees all the time- who often act like they know it all-

or simply burned out employees who just say anything at all at the 800#.

I just dont know where this guy was coming from.

The VA -all this time- has never suggested to you that your husband's income is too high for dependency allowance.

Berta,

He said, I could not draw " Unemployability" pay even if rated at

100% even if I was found to be un-employable due to the high income

in my family.

He wants me to read this in Title 38.

Thanks,

Betty

[rentalguy1]

Betty....this guy is an assclown. If you are receiving a pension, then YOUR income enters the picture. Not your HUSBAND's. For purposes of IU compensation, there is absolutely nothing in Title 38 that says your husband's income is counted. This guy is wrong, wrong, wrong. Send in a complaint to the VSCM at Huntington, and request that this asshat be fired immediately!

[Josephine]

Betty, you're going to have to shake that off, OK hon? We don't bother to call the RO anymore on anything, because of two conversations we had that upset my husband so badly he wanted to drive the four hours south to confront the jerk he talked to. Now, we do everything via fax, e-mail, or through a congress critter.

One time, we got a guy who told us he wasn't paid to pick up faxes off the machine, that he was just paid to answer the phone and that was all (in other words, the fax we had just sent was going to sit on the machine forever if it were left up to him).

Another time, we were told that there was no such thing as 95% schedular rating, that it would either be 90% or 100%, and that we "ought to read 39 CFR." Yes, that's right, "39" not "38."

Both guys were arrogant and stupid. Plus, since we filed the writ of mandamus request with the Court, one of the things we were asked to do was to document our many attempts to get the information involved in that writ on our own, over the years, with the various components of the VA. If we had done this through phone calls, of course there would be no such documentation, and the VA would deny they ever heard from us.

File an IRIS complaint and name names. That will go in the claims file of course, but that's what you want. And by the way, compensation is not means tested. Pension is, of course, which you already know. Compensation is not, and I have been working all the years since my husband was medically retired. My husband's rating has always been for disability compensation, not for pension. My wages have never been asked about, or had anything to do with compensation for having dependents. The guy you spoke to needs training, and definitely to be kept away from the phone and any rating issues until he gets some.

Thanks Vaf,

I know I have to quit letting the VA get to me so badly.

I had no ideal that he was even going to call.

I wasn't prepared and he was being a jerk.

He kept arguing about the amount of money my husband made

and how and why would I even think the VA would pay me

for Unemployability with his salary.

I hung up on him, bet that didn't go over too well. He was still

talking.

Thanks,

Betty