Retro Pay Issue

[hacarlton]

I won a claim at the BVA after 11 years. They sent it to the RO to determine eff. date and retro. pay amt. Now the RO tells me that since the Retro exceeds 250k, it has to go through another step. Can anyone advise on how long this takes? Thanks in advance for your help.

[LarryJ]

I won a claim at the BVA after 11 years. They sent it to the RO to determine eff. date and retro. pay amt. Now the RO tells me that since the Retro exceeds 250k, it has to go through another step. Can anyone advise on how long this takes? Thanks in advance for your help.

.....or, it could be, seeing as how the amount is large, that the "other step" is only that it has to be "signed off on" by someone with authority to okay larger sums of payouts? The "fabled" and oft-hoped-for "third signature" (or, in this case, due to the LARGE amount, maybe the never-before-heard-of "fourth signature")......hey, like my friend, Judy Tenuta, often says, "HEY, it COULD happen!").

[Berta]

WOW- thanks for that updated CAVC info Knifestuff!!!!!!!!!!

I havent had time to read Watchdog in days-full story here:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfsep09/nf091109-1.htm

This doesn't alter the proposed incompetency BS but this is a GREAT victory for vets and for NVLSP , etc ,too-

hacarlton- I suggest you print off this case from the VA WAtchdog site or the CAVC and fax it to your VARO and tell them they have no reason to take too long to send you the money-

I might have fax number for the VARO VSM and/or director if you tell me what VARO.

[timetowinarace]

I'm including the article from VA Wacthdog about "EXTRAORDINARY AWARDS" REVIEWS.

I'm thinking the 'extra step' in your case would be the 'second signature' requirement on awards over $25K. It can take another month.

I would make sure this extra step is the 'second signature' and not the "EXTRAORDINARY AWARDS REVIEWS". If it is the review, I'd contact an attorney quickly as they are no longer legal.

COURT THROWS OUT VA'S "EXTRAORDINARY AWARDS" REVIEWS

Federal Court says VA's reviews of large dollar awards "is not in accordance with 'law, rule, or regulation,' and is invalid."

by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org

-------------------------

Chalk-up a victory for veterans thanks to the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) and the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has thrown out the VA's "extraordinary awards" review program.

The VA began the reviews in 2007 with the issuance of Fast Letter (FL) 07-19 (available for viewing or download here). This required further reviews of awards "...with an effective date retroactive eight or more years or that result in a lump-sum payment of $250,000 or more..." Our original article on this review process is here.

At that time, an attorney who practices veterans' law wrote:

"In essence now the VA Central Office C&P service in Washington will make the decision with regard to the effective date and the amount of the award."

Shortly after that was written, the VA claimed they had found many errors in the "extraordinary awards" they were reviewing. We reported on that here.

From a VA document:

"To date, approximately 230 of these cases have been received. Our review of them has shown a surprisingly high number of errors, especially with effective dates. This high rate of non-concurrence is of concern."

Use our search engine for more about "extraordinary awards" ... click here ...

http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.

php?q=extraordinary+awards&op=ph

Vets' groups cried foul and the lawsuit was filed.

The Court's decision is here for viewing or download.

In short, the Court said:

We conclude that the procedure, whereby certain regional office decisions are re-determined by the Compensation and Pension Service (“C&P”) without the knowledge and participation of the claimant, does not comply with the extant Regulations, and that its promulgation required the Notice and Comment provisions of the APA. We thus grant the petition and set aside the procedure of Fast Letters 07-19 and 08-24.

You will notice the mention of a new FL numbered 08-24 (available here for viewing or download). The VA tried to do an end-run on the lawsuit by rescinding FL 07-19 and replacing it with FL 08-24, even though the second FL just upheld what was in the first FL, but it used different names for the processes involved in the reviews.

The Court did not like that and wrote:

We agree with the petitioners that the VA’s procedure cannot escape review simply because the VA withdrew the document that initially implemented it, but continued the policy under a new number.

That's called a GOTCHA!

So, where do we stand today?

The VA's "extraordinary awards" reviews are out. But, what does it mean for veterans whose claims have already gone through the review process? I asked an attorney who practices veterans' law for some thoughts on the decision:

The most important part of this decision is that VA illegally took the retro benefits from every person upon which they used either of the Fast Letters to do so. The number of claimants so mistreated is over 200 according to the information that I have. Further, each case involves a very significant amount of money because only significant awards were targeted.

These claimants should not take any chances and should immediately contact a lawyer. Who knows what VA is going to do, but I can assure you what they won't do is contact the people and offer to give them back their money without a fight.

We are talking 10s and 100s of thousands of dollars in immediate payments - my sincere hope is that these people do not try to go it alone and get taken again.

-------------------------

[hacarlton]

This is great news. I forwarded it to my atty.

WOW- thanks for that updated CAVC info Knifestuff!!!!!!!!!!

I havent had time to read Watchdog in days-full story here:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfsep09/nf091109-1.htm

This doesn't alter the proposed incompetency BS but this is a GREAT victory for vets and for NVLSP , etc ,too-

hacarlton- I suggest you print off this case from the VA WAtchdog site or the CAVC and fax it to your VARO and tell them they have no reason to take too long to send you the money-

I might have fax number for the VARO VSM and/or director if you tell me what VARO.

[john999]

That is good news because if I win my CUE it will go back to 1971. I was awarded 10% in 1971 when the facts are more in the 70% range.

[broncovet]

This triple checking on very large retros makes me wonder: If the RO could make a mistake on the effective date, in the Veterans favor, is it also not possible for the VA to make a mistake AGAINST the Veteran? That is, why dont they "triple check" all denials before they send them out? After all, we already know many of these are wrong!

I agree with the court in that it does not make sense to slectively "triple check" ONLY FAVORABLE to the Veteran awards..if they "triple check" one, then they should triple check em all, or at least a scientifically random sample.