Vso Question

[Curt]

Hello From Houston:

For the past 10 months I have been represented (LOL) by the Texas Veterans Commission and have come to realize they are

Terrible and I want to change VSOs, anyone have suggestions for a good one in Houston?

Also I understand that to change you must submit a form to the VA and it takes awhile for the change to happen, What form do I need?

Thanks,

[purple]

I'm a very, very strong advocate of vets filing their own claims. You don't have to have a VSO as the VA would like you to believe.

Since you are on this site, you obviously have computer skills, if you can organize your medical records that are pertinent to your claim....complete the form...that's about it!

I did my own, I know other's who have done their own claims successfully....to me, VSOs are an uneeded middleman for those who are able and willing to file their own claim.

Give it some thought.

[john999]

You know claims are won on evidence. If you have medical evidence of service connection that is going to be the factor that is going to win your claim. Getting the VA to read and consider your evidence is the hard part and VSO's don't help much with that. They are OK as a mail drop but I would never trust them to file a claim for me or handle my evidence. That is something you need to hand deliver to the VA and get copies of everything you give them.

[majrrich]

i had a VSO who let me down. I took control of my claim by researching hadit and other sites. also the VA.gov site has a lot of information. I managed to get 80% plus IU without the help of any organization. Just pay attention to the requirements thae VA sets whether good or bad if you follow what the VA wandts you have a better chance. Remember No one cares about your claim more than you do Keep copies of everything and if you have to mail use return receipt requested and pay atttention to the time requirements

Good Luck

Rich

[Pete53]

Why not talk to a few Service Officers and hire the one you like and will take your claim. They all office in the same area at your VAMC. My VSO is the Texas Veterans Commission and they usually have good people at the VARO which is where it matters.

When I started out most Service Organizations would not accept you as a client if you were already represented.

Lastly like Purple mentioned with the help of Hadit you will probably make your own best Service Officer.

[Berta]

I believe it is the 21-22 form you need- you can find a PDF of the form at the VA web site- go to www.va.gov, click on Comp Icon on left and Forms should pop up-and it will be there.

Your former POA as well as the VARO both need a copy of this form.

The advise here is right on-

SOs or reps are good for filing atuff- but you have to double check that they in fact do file it with VARO-

the best rep you will ever get is the vet you see in the mirror every AM.

There are some great reps but they have hundreds if not thousands of claims-

most of us just have one or maybe a few issues.

Everything you need to know is here at hadit.

[broncovet]

To VSO or Not to VSO that is the question. I would like to suggest two highly different Veterans would get two highly different answers:

I personally recommend this "test" to see if you can probably do your own claim. If you score at least 5 "yes" answers, then you could consider filing without a VSO. Less than 4 yes answers, then you really should strongly consider a VSO. If you have 6 yes to the questions below, you probably can elect to file your own claims, provided you are motivated to "follow up" and not give up.

1. Do you have access to the internet, and knowledge of how to use it?

2. Has your doctor indicated you are competent to handle your own affairs?

3. Do you have a good place to put copies of forms you send to the VA where they are not likely to get lost, such as a filing cabinet?

4. Do you have a good REGULAR address where you get mail, and access to a phone? If you have lived at 3 different places in the past month, the answer to this is probably no.

5. Do you have time available, for example, if you are not working full time, then the answer is probably yes. If you are working long hours then the answer is proabably no.

6. If other factors prevent you from filing claims such as: a) you hate paperwork and dont follow up well. B) You cant afford stamps and postage to mail in your forms c) You are highly disorganized and tend to loose paperwork d) You have severe anger issues and get so angry that you "blow up" and become violent with people who disagree with you, and/or write very nasty letters to people who you think did you wrong and threaten them. If you do any of these things, answer this question no.