Service Officer Makes Good Argument

[Guest Jim S.]

I had a long discussion with my new SO and he has convenced me that I should ask for a reconsideration of my claim of 2004, which would be supported by the old evidence of record and with the more recent evidence from 2004 untill now.

His argument being that I would stand a much better chance of getting Service connection by getting them to conduct a C&P exam by a Board Certified Psychiatrist along with his own opinion of nexus of all the evidence to the diagnosis in service and now.

It should take considerable less time than a CUE claim answering the best part of the Claim and that is SC.

Giving me still the opertunity to argue for a EED using the CUE to do that with.

I kind of feel like a sell out by going for the short hall of reconsideration over the long hall of the CUE claim. I guess it will all be worth it, if I should finally get SC, but that is yet to be seen.

I keep telling myself it isn't about the money, that it is the principle that matters, but even getting SC from 2004 instead of 1974 still keeps to the idea of SC if not to the letter. The CUE claim is not dead, just postponed

Time will tell if I made the right decision and whether I let my new SO sale me a bill of goods.

Jim S. B)

[Pete53]

Its your claim and you need to go with what you think is in your best interest.

Your SO makes sense to me.

[Guest Jim S.]

Terry and Fellow Vets: This reconsideration is for the complete record, not for any one single claim. It's basicaly a deal to put all the chips on the table, to include not only a C&P exam, but an IMO as to whether nexus can be shown for SC. It is not a reconsideration hearing, and I believe the IMO will be done by those in Washington who do these type of reviews of Veterans Medical records.and the C&P exam will be by a board certified psychiatrist, at least that is what my SO is requesting.

This was brokered by my SO for the mishandling of my prior claim for reconsideration in 2004. For treating it as a claim for reopening with new and material evidence and then not recognizing my CUE claim when I requested to withdraw my claim for reconsideration. It's like getting a second shot at reconsideration, only now I have more cannon fodder for them to try and blow holes in, to support my side.

It kind of gets confusing from here. Just for argument sake, it appears the VARO is trying to meet me half way to straighten things out from the 2004 fileing. As long as I get a fair C&P exam and an IMO for nexus, I believe that the evidence in the records, should support the claim for SC.

I do however, believe you are wrong about not being able to CUE a VARO's unappealed decision. If after the claim decision becomes final and you later find that the decision was based on CUE, you can submit a claim for CUE at any time, if they deny your CUE claim. Then you have the same rights to appeal as you would another claim, appealling each decision that denys your CUE claim all the way to COVA.

I will be going in today to submit some additional evidence to beef up my claim and will clarify some of the things discussed here, and to make sure what I was hearing wasn't misunderstood. Time will tell the tale.

Jim S. B)

[john999]

Jim

Get the service-connection now and worry about CUE later. None of us lives forever and that is how long some of these claims can take. If you can get 100% or IU now that is a bird in the hand and your financial life is going to improve. These claims are not about principal but about money in your pocket. The whole thing is to get you service-connected. Once you have that you can ask for increases until you get what you want. They can't take that SC away from you and that is the lever you can use to move mountains. I started at 10% 35 years ago.

[jimlane1949]

I had a long discussion with my new SO and he has convenced me that I should ask for a reconsideration of my claim of 2004, which would be supported by the old evidence of record and with the more recent evidence from 2004 untill now.

His argument being that I would stand a much better chance of getting Service connection by getting them to conduct a C&P exam by a Board Certified Psychiatrist along with his own opinion of nexus of all the evidence to the diagnosis in service and now.

It should take considerable less time than a CUE claim answering the best part of the Claim and that is SC.

Giving me still the opertunity to argue for a EED using the CUE to do that with.

I kind of feel like a sell out by going for the short hall of reconsideration over the long hall of the CUE claim. I guess it will all be worth it, if I should finally get SC, but that is yet to be seen.

I keep telling myself it isn't about the money, that it is the principle that matters, but even getting SC from 2004 instead of 1974 still keeps to the idea of SC if not to the letter. The CUE claim is not dead, just postponed

Time will tell if I made the right decision and whether I let my new SO sale me a bill of goods.

Jim S. B)

If you have made a decision stickwith it and wishing you well. It does no good second guessing yourself after the fact.

JIM LANE TDIU T&P

;)