Help With Strange Claim

[sailgirlwillis]

Hello and welcome to my mess. Facts first...Filed claim in 1976..with in the one year of discharge..Called and called...they were working on it....fast foward to Dec 1995..Went to see local vet rep...wanted to use dr and hospital....She talked me into filing another claim...I told her these people are slowww....Then I found my orginal claim in my education file...had never been adjudicated...just stamped received..In April 1996 I under went a radical double masetomy..I wrote a letter to the Va stating I was totally disabled and needed assistance now. My original case was adjudicated in Jan 1999 and I was awarded 100% service connected....I was paid back to 1975...But from April 1996 to June 1998 I only received 30%...My question is did the letter(informal claim) wrote in April 1996 stating I was totally disabled and need assistance now ....did the va have to provide me with a new claim form or does the 1976 claim stand up for this...My case was based on clear and unmistakable error...I have asked the va to revisit the case...What I have read is the informal claim must state the benefit seeking...Do you think my letter stated this...The va never said a word about this letter...no statement of case or anything..They had all my medical records at time of adjudication and talked about my 1996 operation in my award letter...In the letter I stated all about the operation..(April1996)Any thoughts or help would be great...Thanks sailgirl

[Guest Berta]

I think some of us misunderstood you- I sure did- I thought you were 100% back to 1976.

Vicki- could you state exactly what your recent claim is for?

Law libraries- boy- can I relate to that!!!! Bet Terry Higgins can too--and others here---in 1980s and 1990s I spent lots of time in one and we were only allowed a limited amount of xeroxes. There was a sign that said "Up to 15 xeroxes can be requested" and the price.Bit it didnt say how many times you could request 15 copies.

I used to go in ,get the required limit of 15 pages of VA legalise for them to copy, pay for it, go outside to a little park area , read over whatever additional regs they were referencing that I might need, and wait about a half hour, and then go back in and get 15 more.Sometimes I would do that 3-4 times a day.

The internet sure has made things easier.

By the way- you did very well in your past claim- do you have complete access to 38 CFR, M21-1 , BVA, CAVC etc, etc now?