tdiu Tdiu Advice

[erico541]

i am currently rated 90% 50% depression 3o% lt hand 30% rt hand 20 % lt foot 20% rt foot 10% broken clavicle 10% tinnitus i entered the voc re-hab program and am having no luck at all in it. i have not had any income since march to speak of. i am becoming more and more mentaly house bound, as i am becoming too depressed to leave. i think i am on too many meds to be that reliable anyway. is tdiu an option at this point thanks and please pray for our troops

[sharon]

If you have been mostly self employed why can't you continue. Just want a little more info, can you get a doctor to state that you can no longer work?

M21-1MR, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section F

<H5 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">a. Developing Claims Involving Self-Employed Individuals</H5>Development to produce the evidence necessary to establish the degree to which SC disability has impaired the veteran’s ability to engage in self-employment must generally be more extensive than development in cases in which the veteran worked for others.

Request that the veteran furnish a statement regarding the

· types of work performed

· number of hours worked per week, and

· amount of time lost in the previous 12 months due to SC disabilities.

·

26. Evaluating Evidence of Self-Employment or Employment With a Tightly Held Corporation, Continued

<H5 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">b. Deciding Whether Self-Employed Individuals Are Unemployable Due To SC Disability</H5>When determining entitlement of self-employed individuals to increased compensation based on IU, consider the relationship between the frequency and the type of service performed by the veteran for his/her business and the veteran’s net and gross earnings for the past 12 months.

Consider facts of the case, such as

· low gross earnings that support a finding of marginal employment, especially when the amount of time lost from work due to SC disablement is taken into account, or

· high gross earnings that indicate the veteran is capable of engaging in a substantially gainful occupation.

Notes:

· Consider low net earnings in conjunction with gross income.

· The inability to make a profit is not always indicative of the inability to engage in substantially gainful employment.

[erico541]

heve not been able to find work in several months.the one fairly steady fellow that gave me work, circled his wagon before the economy tanked and i was left out of the circle. i have depression issues that keep me from being around many people, or i break out in a sweat that causes boils.and other things. the voc rehab fellow said he would write me a letter stating i am not really suited for employment if needed. so far no one has been interested in hiring me. this iu was not my first choice,but i am not having any luck with the other avenues, the voc rehab folks have been really good to me.

[trailblazer]

Thanks pete992. You are right, I was wrong on the form number. My wife informed me that my vso mailed that form to my former supervisor and filed out the other form for me. I do appreciate being corrected when I am wrong. You are helping me when you do. Thanks

[john999]

You need something besides a voc rehab person saying you are not really suited for employment. You need a doctors statement saying you are unemployable due to your service connected disabilities. It probably will take a while to get this done, but start now. If you file a claim for an increase in your disability the VA should schedule you for a C&P exam if you can't afford a doctor's report. Won't your VA shrink write you a letter saying you are unemployabled? Don't tell anyone you filed because you could not find work. You are filing for IU because you can't work. Be careful of what you say to the VA because your words will haunt you.

[erico541]

thsnkd thst is really good advice, you are so right. i have tried to apply for jobs but i cannot get out of the car to go into the business. i then spend the rest of the day driving around counting the spaces between lines on the road. it just makes me feel good to do that. should i appeal the 50% depression decision?

[Pete53]

Yes and ask for TDIU