Payment Error?

[AimHigh1986]

I had heart bypass surgery on 2 Jul 09; I filed a new claim which was rec'd by the VA on 3 Aug 09. The ratings schedule says that veterans received 3 months of temporary 100% after heart bypass surgery. I received my decision letter the other day and they granted temporary 100% with an effective date of 1 Sep 09, ending 1 Nov 09. That's only 2 months. The check I received today confirmed that fact. August is missing. Should I file a NOD to tell them I disagree or can an obvious error like this be solved over the phone or through IRIS?

Thanks,

A.H.86

[AimHigh1986]

Wow, thanks for the info! I believe my rater rushed through the claim (lots of typos) because it had been stagnant in Atlanta for several months without any action. I'd even stopped receiving the "we are working on your claim" letters every month. After an IRIS inquiry, my claim was "miraculously" completed within a week. I noticed it was kind of peculiar because the decision letter came in a brown envelope with my name and address handwritten on the front.

[Philip Rogers]

Berta's correct, always check their figures. They do make mistakes. When I won my claim the retro was off a whole yr. Fortunately I caught it, sent them a NOD about the amount and within a couple of weeks received a check for over $17k.

pr

VYNC asked:

"Is it just me or is the VA ripping us off?"

They are attempting to either rip us off or they simply cannot do math.

When the VA failed me pay me a five figure amount some time ago-the audit statement they sent me looked so accurate I almost didn't even question it.

One day I decided maybe I should check out their math- it was off by a five figure amount.!

They had forgotten to add a full year of my DIC but the audit list year by year seemed to account for the year yet it didn't when I used the historical rate table to add it all up.

I sent them a letter- also by then I had received 2 or 3 DIC checks for the DIC rate of a past year- I wondered how the heck they could make an error like that.

I enclosed my mathematical calculations,and a link to the DIC rates at VA.gov, and said they either owed me a few hundred on the DIC checks or 11,000 on the wrong audit amount.or Both.

In 3-4 weeks I got all the money. My calculations were correct.

Anyone getting any large retro check should Definitely take the time ,using the historic rate tables, to see if they sent the correct amount.

I would think VA uses computers that are human error-free-to calculate these amounts but,in my case, only a pencil and paper made me realize they had made a very large error.

[AimHigh1986]

It's encouraging news to hear that it only took a few weeks once you sent your NOD.

[AimHigh1986]

Berta's correct, always check their figures. They do make mistakes. When I won my claim the retro was off a whole yr. Fortunately I caught it, sent them a NOD about the amount and within a couple of weeks received a check for over $17k.

pr

P.R.,

Did the VA send you any written correspondence after you sent them a NOD (something stating that they rec'd your NOD), or did they simply make the correction and send you your money?

P.R.,

Did the VA send you any written correspondence after you sent them a NOD (something stating that they rec'd your NOD), or did they simply make the correction and send you your money?