Amc..how To Keep Your Claim Out Of There?

[broncovet]

Is anyone familiar with the AMC..that is, specifically how do I keep my claim from going there? I have heard horror stories, that the

AMC is like the "Roach Motel" in that once you check in to the AMC your claim will never get out of there. Is this the place where the VA holds claim appeals while they wait for the Veteran to die? No one that I have ever heard of has ever gotten a claim out of AMC successfully..if you have, please speak up. Others, however, have said something about their claim being at AMC for 5 years while nothing happens on it.

I can not understand the purpose of AMC. Do they forward claims to the BVA or CAVC? Do they decide claims? Is this the headquarters of the "Bureau of Bureacracy" of the VA, because I thought it was ALL VA employees job to complicate and confuse each Veteran to delay his claim for as long as possible rather than have that done all at the AMC.

Please post your experience at AMC, good, bad, or indifferent.

[broncovet]

Thank you for your responses. It sounds like your claim going to AMC is worse than your claim going to the shredder bin, because if your claim was shredded, you at least have some chance at reconstructing it, but once it goes to the AMC it means it will be delayed forever. Maybe, if/when my claim goes to the BVA, I will beg them to either approve, or deny my claim but to never send it to the "AMC BLACK HOLE" where it will be forever delayed.

[Mr cue]

yes amc is black hole my claim was remaned there it was to be expidated due to my hardships my claim was there 5month before i started looking for number to call i left messages. i talk to some team guy he look at my claim and say oh u are right this is to be expidated. needless to say i took 1 more month denied. when back to bva granted now back at amc and they are to handle my retro i been 3 week and not even a letter. so i guess i get my retro in 3 month. and its 94-2001. this is not right thank for letting me vent i am mad as ----.

[john999]

hurryup

You have a good lawyer. The thing I see is that if you have a claim with a potential retro back to 1973 your DRO may not have the guts to grant such a claim. He will palm it off on the BVA. He does not want to be the guy who grants a vet a few hundred thousand dollars in retro. This is exactly what happened with my claim that went to the DRO with my lawyer. We were asking for money back to 1971. My claim seemed pretty plain to me and my lawyer, but the DRO must have gotten the word that no way in hell were they going to grant such a claim. I bet the DRO ran my claim by someone higher up and they put the kabosh on it. Now I am waiting for my BVA hearing.

[hurryupnwait]

hurryup

You have a good lawyer. The thing I see is that if you have a claim with a potential retro back to 1973 your DRO may not have the guts to grant such a claim. He will palm it off on the BVA. He does not want to be the guy who grants a vet a few hundred thousand dollars in retro. This is exactly what happened with my claim that went to the DRO with my lawyer. We were asking for money back to 1971. My claim seemed pretty plain to me and my lawyer, but the DRO must have gotten the word that no way in hell were they going to grant such a claim. I bet the DRO ran my claim by someone higher up and they put the kabosh on it. Now I am waiting for my BVA hearing.

Hi John

Yes, I m aware that it may have to go the BVA, Ken Carpenter has asked for a partial award back to 2004 for TDIU, which we are hoping they will grant. The open claim to 1973 will prolly be headed to the BVA, where it was noted in the remand letter, the first time at the BVA, that no decision letter was ever sent to me after I went for a C&P exam, therefore the claim is still open.

Happy Trails

Paul

[broncovet]

John..

Yes, that is very frustrating when the RO simply wont award those large retros..they pass em on the BVA. There is a recent case that pointed out that it is illegal for the Va to send only large retros to VACO, supervisors, etc. The Va does it to save money, but it is under the guise that it reduces fraud. It does not. The employee-frauds easily circumvent this system by simply awarding retros a bit smaller than the minimum. That is, when they check retros over 250k or 10 years, the frauds simply submit retros of $225k so they avoid this fraud check. It does not reduce fraud, it creates a loophole to enhance it. It is like putting a security guard at the front door and leaving the back door wide open.

Another way to look at is they are putting a combination lock on the door, where the combination is on a sticky note 3 feet from the lock.

Edited January 7, 2010 by broncovet

[john999]

Paul

Wow, a vet here recently won a huge retro award on a claim that was still open way back from the 70's. I believe he filed it as a CUE, but the VA treated it like a claim that was still open. He had the facts in black and white about how the VA blew it . It is a good idea to get the TDIU and then continue the fight to get the big retro. It is a lot easier to sleep at night knowing you have a decent check coming in every month. I think if Ken Carpenter has confidence in your claim you are going to be in for a big payday.