Impossible To Fix.

[broncovet]

I sent an IRIS email inquiring status of my claim, because:

...An April 08 VARO decision says IU was denied.

...An Aug 08 VARO decision says IU was pending.

It did not make sense to me that, it was denied then pending 4 months later, when I had not re applied for IU.

So, of course, IRIS "straightened" it out right? No. Its worse. They said my IU claim was

"claimed January 2007, but then CLOSED July 2, 2007".

The VARO has NO IDEA whether my claim is pending, in appeal, denied, or shredded. I know some of my evidence has been shredded, but now I am thinking the entire claim was shredded, and they were reading from what it stated online.

Does anyone have any idea of how to fix this mess? Oh, yes, I have a VSO, and he is even more confused than I am, and I am WAY, WAY more on top of this than the VARO, in part, because this affects MY paycheck, not theirs. They KNOW when their payday is, and how much it will be, but they dont have a clue on my claim.

[spike]

First of all if you meet the criteria for the I/U it is a matter of a open or shut case per the CFR or USC.

Secondly, You need to wait and get a letter of a FIRM denial or FIRM Approval from the VA. Hearing from IRIS or hearing over the phone is not official means of communication to notify a veteran of his or her benefits. UNTIL you obtain an official letter from the VA your claim should be considered PENDING.

Third, Calling your Congressman/Woman or Senator as previously recommended is maybe not the right way to go if you know the actual process of the VA. After obtaining a phone call or a letter from a Federal Official, the VA is required to PULL YOUR FILE FROM WHEREVER IT IS...that means if it is at the authorizer, rating board, in house appeals, pre determination, post determination or files, it will be pulled from its current staging or BEING worked folder. All theyi are usually asked to correspond back by these officials is usually the current status of where the file is. So the Corrrespondence team will say where the file was in a letter form and saying where the next step is. This could delay your processing. Some VA's are good at replacing your file back in a timely manner, others may not be at putting your file back at all or in a timely manner or in place. All for your Congressman to get a letter saying where your file is at and maybe current status.

Fourth, it was previously recommended to resubmitt a 4138 in statement in support of claim. Well this normally would be ok, however, if they are having problems determining date of claim or eligibility date...submitting another form with another date will cause confusion, but if your VSO has a date stamped memo to back up the submital of the form the your date of claim is supported and secure. But first find where your status...

I help Vets all the time, all day....and one of the things I hear the most is "I heard....that I should do this...I should do that..." Sometimes, the best advice you can do is get the veteran to someone who can help them if you don't know the answer. In this case, the vet doesn't know if he is approved or denied..the first step is to simply find out what he is before going to the congress, resubmitting forms, sitting down with a VSR, FOIA Requests, etc...etc...

Edited January 22, 2009 by spike

[rentalguy1]

Soike, no offense, but under your advise this vet could be waiting for years. There is a large span of time between April 08 and August 08, and between August 08 and January 09. If the vet was going to hear something in a timely manner, he would have already heard something. The only way to find out something from the VA is to be proactive. Make a appointment, and look at your C-file. Whatever they have done, and whatever they are currently doing should be spelled out in the file.

[broncovet]

Thanks for your advice..right now I am kind of doing a combination of what was advised..

I am rather encouraged that I have an appointment with a lawyer..and I sent her some real specific details of my case....another thing is that she is a Vet..and, I trust Vets more than non Vets.

I kind of think this..if they take my case on contingency..that is, no win, no payment to attorney..then I think the lawyer will have a pretty good idea that she will get paid. So, that is encouraging.

The other part is that I am strongly considering the 5 hour drive to the Regional Office.

It probably wont hurt, and may make me feel better if I can even get it straightened out enough that I at least know what is going on.

I have been in touch with my Senators office, over the past year. From reading hadit, people who have used their senator/congressmen havent done any better than those who did not involve their congressmen..as far as a results of their case is concerned. My senators office has offered..but it seems like that there is about a 51 percent chance it will slow down or even hurt my chances, and only a 49% chance that it will help my case. ...

I am realistically trying to get my case settled by next election..4 years..I will be suprised if I get it settled in less than 2 years. ..and, in "VA time" 2009 is almost over..lol

[poolguy11550]

broncovet- it happens too often, so relax some. The I/U claim can be re-opened by the R/O upon any new findings relative to the previsus claim. The most common occurrence I seen is the former employers responding several months after the denial of the I/U claim- once the correspondence from the former employers is received by the pre-determining team, it will spark a re-opening of the I/U claim by the R/O. Error on the side of caution and check things out as jbasser says.