Help To Understanding Back Pay

[mac mcqueen]

We made a decision on your claim for service connected compensation received on February 26,2008.

I recieved this after they have increased my disabilities from 70% to 80%. The increase were from deffered items dating back in 2008. I recieved the paperwork and it was stamped on April 8 2010. I still haven't recieved the back pay as of yet. I really don't know much about computing the back pay and if any of you experts out there have any idea and on top of that how long do you tink it will take to get the deposit. My VSO thinks it's somewhere in the 35,000.00 range. I don't know I never had that much money at one time but it will sure be nice to have and pay off a lot of back bills. the back pay was for EED and depression increase of 30% which brought me to 80% total combined rating. I scanned it into the computer and this is what the intial page looks like. If you can help with your opinion on ammount and how long it will take I would greatly appreciate it. I'm down to the last of my savings and bills are still comming in for the last back surgery last month which I haven't even filed for yet. I'm pretty well maxed from what I know on my back and after the last surgery the doctor stated I can't go back to work so I guess I'll file for IU and SSDI. If you can help with the ammount and the time frame it would be great.

How about alittle help from the experts. I was at 70 the This letter tells you about your entitlement amount and payment start date and what we decided. It includes a copy of our rating decision that gives the evidence used and reasons for our decision. We have also included information about additional benefits, what to do if you disagree with our decision, and who to contact if you have questions or need assistance.

Your Award Amount and Payment Start Date Your monthly entitlement amount is shown below:

Total VA

Amount

Amount

Effective Date

Reason For Change

Benefit

Withheld

Paid

$1,692.00

$559.00

$1,133.00

Mar 1,2008

Compensation rating adjustment, CRDP adjustment

$1,692.00

$63.00

$1,629.00

Jun 1,2008

CRDP adjustment

$1,790.00

$69.00

$1,721.00

Dee 1,2008

Cost of living adjustment, CRDP adjustment

$1,790.00

$34.00

$1,756.00

Jan 1,2009

CRDP adjustment

$3,423.00

$0.00

$~,423.00

Aug 1,2009

CRDP adjustment

$3,~88.00

$0.00

$3,588.00

Oct 1,2009

CRDP adjustment, continued as a school child

$1,922.00

$62.00

$1,860.00

Nov 1, 2009

CRDP adjustment

$1,922.00

$15.00

$1,907.00

Feb 1,2010

CRDP adjustment

$1,922.00

$0.00

$1,922.00

Apr 1,2010

CRDP adjustment ends

$1,730.00

$0.00

$1,730.00

Jun 1,2010

grads and removed from award

$1,643.00

$0.00

$1,643.00

Jan 19,2012

turns 18 removed from award

Weare paying you as a veteran with three dependents. Your payment includes an additional amount for your spouse,your children, . Let us know right away if there is any change in the status of your dependents.

[Vync]

I have direct deposit. Strangely, when I received back pay last month due to an increase from 40% to 70%, the payment was in my bank account about two days before I received my award letter. I actually thought it was my Fed tax return coming in, but it wasn't.

Your scanner did a decent job OCR'ing the text, but I think I managed to clean it up here. Not sure if this is correct though. It looks like you were not always at 70% during this time, but I could be wrong...

Your table:

Amount Amount Amount Date Reason for change

$1,692.00 $559.00 $1,133.00 2008-03-01 CRDP adjustment

* At less than 70% during this period?

$1,692.00 $63.00 $1,629.00 2008-06-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,790.00 $69.00 $1,721.00 2008-12-01 Cost of living adjustment, CRDP adjustment

$1,790.00 $34.00 $1,756.00 2009-01-01 CRDP adjustment

$3,423.00 $0.00 $3,423.00 2009-08-01 CRDP adjustment

$3,588.00 $0.00 $3,588.00 2009-10-01 CRDP adjustment, continued as a school child

* At 100% during this period?

$1,922.00 $62.00 $1,860.00 2009-11-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,922.00 $15.00 $1,907.00 2010-02-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,922.00 $0.00 $1,922.00 2010-04-01 CRDP adjustment ends

The following has not yet occurred (no retro). They want you to be aware of the impending changes so you don't look at your monthly VA payment and freak out while wondering what happened.

$1,730.00 $0.00 $1,730.00 2010-06-01 Trads and removed from award

$1,643.00 $0.00 $1,643.00 2012-01-19 Turns 18 removed from award

VA rate tables:

Rates as of 12/1/2007 - http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/rates/comp0107.htm

Rates as of 12/1/2008 - http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/rates/comp0108.htm

Rates as of 12/1/2009 - http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/rates/comp01.htm

You need to do this to figure out how much retro you get:

1. Each line represents a specific period of months for the given rate.

2. Dig through your bank statements for each period and determine the actual rate you were paid.

3. Subtract actual rate from the new rate (number in first column).

4. Take the difference and multiply it by the number of months where the same actual rate was paid. That will tell you how much retro you will get.

Note: It looks like you were probably at a 100% temp rate from August 2009 through October 2009. If you were, you won't get any retro during those periods.

I tried to look up the numbers on the tables below, but your numbers based on Vet/Spouse/Child under 18 + Child under 18 do not seem to match what is shown on the table. Because I don't know exactly what your factors are, I cannot do the math for you. I have a feeling that one of your children might be a college student.

If you can give us the rates you were actually paid during each period, the math will be easier.

[mac mcqueen]

My math skills really suck so I'll try and give you what I have. In Feb of 2008 I recieved a decision letter for my 2 back surgery and this is what is stated: The increased my Back to 50%. In 2008 the Award read like this:

Total Award Ammout Amount Withheld Monthly Entitlement Payment start date Reason

$1,381.00 496.00 885.00 March 1 2008 granted increase we are withholding for retipay

1,381 000.00 1,381.00 June 1, 2008 no longer holding for retired pay

1,332 000.00 1,332.00 Sept 30, 2009 Son was 18 and they removed

Now there was a screw up and I had to get it fixed because my son was 18 but still in school and doesn't graduate till this year.

I had two items that were deffered and thats where it all got mixed up and why the claim took so long. I have a wife and two children one over 18 and still in school. I didn't do anything about the deffered items and then I had another back and knee surgery so I filed for the convelanse and then all of the sudden the found the deffered items and sent me on a C/P. I was grated EED Special Comp and was given 30% for major depression. This up my total SC disabilities from 70% to 80% back payble to Feb 26, 2008. The 100% months you saw in the first post were due to Back and Knee Surgery. Hope this helps I thought it was going to be around 22K but the VSO says she thinks it's more like 35K to 36K. Now I keep reading about some of it will come from VA and the other from DFAS, and that DFAS might take up to 6 to 8 months to get something back. I just have alot of bills piling up I've since had a third back surgery and I didn't even file for it yet. as I wanted this one to get cleaned up first. I did go ahead and file for IU though. Any help in ammount and time frame would be greatly appreciated.

[Vync]

Hey MacQueen,

Regarding the timeframe, I really have no idea.

So far, it looks like this:

50% as of Feb 2008

70% as of ?? ------- When did you get the 70% rating???

Because of the EED update, we know you are at 80% as of March 2008.

The retirement offset makes things a bit different... I tried to do the math, but I came up with an amount of about $12,600, but that just does not seem right.

Call the 1-800 number and speak with someone regarding your payments. They should be able to tell you the total retro amount and the date when it is scheduled to post to your bank account. This should take no more than 15 min...

[mac mcqueen]

70% was as of Feb 2008 also. I just called the 800 number and the guy stated that the autorization was signed, but no one had updated the computer to release the funds, so here I sit and wait agian.

[Vync]

Come to think of it, when I got my retro in 2000, I received a letter and then a week later the money was deposited into my account. Of course, that was 10 years ago. I would hope they would be a bit more efficient now.

Best bet is to call them every couple of days. Also, check your bank account to see if you have a large deposit from the VA.

Also, regarding financials, I recommend you listen to the Dave Ramsey show on a.m. radio. I did and it made a real big difference to me. His books are good too.

Here's my math (which is probably wrong, but who knows):

From what you indicated, it looks like they pretty much have paid you at a monthly rate of $1,381.00 from March 1 2008 to the present.

Amount Amount Amount Date Reason for change

$1,692.00 $559.00 $1,133.00 2008-03-01 CRDP adjustment

* At less than 70% during this period?

$1,692 - 1381.00 = $311.00 x3 = $933.00

$1,692.00 $63.00 $1,629.00 2008-06-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,692 - 1381.00 = $311.00 x6 = $1866.00

$1,790.00 $69.00 $1,721.00 2008-12-01 Cost of living adjustment, CRDP adjustment

$1,692 - 1381.00 = $311.00 x12 = $3732.00

$1,790.00 $34.00 $1,756.00 2009-01-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,790 - 1381.00 = $409.00 x12 = $2863.00

$3,423.00 $0.00 $3,423.00 2009-08-01 CRDP adjustment

$3,588.00 $0.00 $3,588.00 2009-10-01 CRDP adjustment, continued as a school child

* At 100% during this period?

$1,922.00 $62.00 $1,860.00 2009-11-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,922 - 1381.00 = $541.00 x3 = $1623.00

$1,922.00 $15.00 $1,907.00 2010-02-01 CRDP adjustment

$1,922 - 1381.00 = $541.00 x2 = $1082.00

$1,922.00 $0.00 $1,922.00 2010-04-01 CRDP adjustment ends

$1,922 - 1381.00 = $541.00 x1 = $541.00

Here are the totals. Of course, I could be wrong, but based on what you have given that's what it look like.

$ 933.00

$ 1,866.00

$ 3,732.00

$ 2,863.00

$ 1,623.00

$ 1,082.00

$ 541.00

----------

$12,640.00 (retro SWAG - no clue if this is even close to what you will get)

[mac mcqueen]

Thanks for the math, It pretty close to what I came up with I called the 800 mix up line and the guy stated that it looked like the authorized it but the supervisor didn't finish the computer to let the money go. Stated he sent an IRIS to let the know. I hope that doesn't piss off my VSO. The only thng I had different was the SMK for the EDD at 96.00 for the entire 2008 to present. Agian thanks for the information I'll let you know how close we are.