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Will The Va Notify Me If I Was Overpaid On My Pension?


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I was at a va psychiatric hospital and a VA representative filled out my claim for a disability pension. I had just lost my husband and I was in shock and grieving. I spent eight months in the psychiatric hospital and due to the medications I honestly don't remember much.

Since then I have been an inpatient and an outpatient for almost three years. I have had many shock therapy treatments and my memory is shoddy to say the least.

My question is if I was overpaid by the VA will I receive a letter of notification. Will the VA give me a chance to respond and request a way to make small payments to resolve the issue and will they allow me to request a waiver?

OR will the VA simply stop my pension without notifying me first and giving me time to try to make arrangements?

I am just paranoid, I have no other means of support and I would be homeless without my pension.

Thank you in advance for your response.

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"My question is if I was overpaid by the VA will I receive a letter of notification. Will the VA give me a chance to respond and request a way to make small payments to resolve the issue and will they allow me to request a waiver?"

They certainly will notify you and they will give you chance to respond and to work out something with them.

I am concerned here though-as to why you fear an overpayment on your pension?

I see you get 10%-do you mean you get 10% VA compensation?

Or do you mean you are 10% service connected but the pension is the greater amount so you receive the pension?

Is it possible that the 10% is way too low?

If it is 10% SC for psychiatric disability-this sounds like reason to file for TDIU.

If you can get a VA service connected rating that would put you over pension amount- then they would drop the pension but the compensation would be a better benefit.

Was your husband a veteran?

If so did he have any service connected disabilities?

I am a widow and we have other widows here at hadit.

It can be a terrible shock but we must go on- they want us to.

I am sorry for your loss.

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"My question is if I was overpaid by the VA will I receive a letter of notification. Will the VA give me a chance to respond and request a way to make small payments to resolve the issue and will they allow me to request a waiver?"

They certainly will notify you and they will give you chance to respond and to work out something with them. Will my pension continue as it is now while I work this out with the VA? I am in fear it will just stop and I have no income other than the $985 that I receive monthly. If I lose it, I will be homeless, literally. I have not yet received any letter or anything from the VA as of the present. My caseworker says it will not be discontinued, but I am not certain that she knows what will actually happen.

I am concerned here though-as to why you fear an overpayment on your pension? I received a notice from the IRS for not filing in 2007. I didn't think I needed to, I was on SSDI only, but when my husband who was my payee died in October 2007, they immediately stopped my SSDI. I had an annuity from a former job that I was medically retired from when I got to sick to work in 1999. When I was in the va psychiatric hospital a veterans' representative encouraged me to file for the va pension. He submitted all the information, I don't recall if he included the annuity amount.

I see you get 10%-do you mean you get 10% VA compensation? I receive $985 per month, they gave me that as I had no annual income and I am totally unable to work any longer.

Or do you mean you are 10% service connected but the pension is the greater amount so you receive the pension? The pension is greater than the 10 %, so they gave me the non service connected pension for veterans with little to no income

Is it possible that the 10% is way too low? I don't know

If it is 10% SC for psychiatric disability-this sounds like reason to file for TDIU. What is a TDIU?

If you can get a VA service connected rating that would put you over pension amount- then they would drop the pension but the compensation would be a better benefit.

How do I go about doing that, I am sorry I haven't a clue, I have had constant shock therapy for over 18 months.

Was your husband a veteran? Yes, but we were common law and when I was in the psychiatric hospital his family stepped in and I believe that they got all his benefits.

If so did he have any service connected disabilities? No.

I am a widow and we have other widows here at hadit.

It can be a terrible shock but we must go on- they want us to.

I am sorry for your loss.

Thank you so much for your response, any advice or knowledge will be greatly appreciated.

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I see why you are concerned:

"I received a notice from the IRS for not filing in 2007. I didn't think I needed to, I was on SSDI only, but when my husband who was my payee died in October 2007, they immediately stopped my SSDI. I had an annuity from a former job that I was medically retired from when I got to sick to work in 1999. When I was in the va psychiatric hospital a veterans' representative encouraged me to file for the va pension. He submitted all the information, I don't recall if he included the annuity amount."

Who gets your SSDI as payee now?????? why did they 'stop' the SSDI? I assume this was for your own disability? Why would SSDI stop if you are still totally disabled.

"I don't recall if he included the annuity amount"

This could be critical if the VA proposes to stop the pension-

I suggest you call the vet rep who handled the application to see if the annuity was listed.

Do you get annual income statements from VA for the pension? I forget what it s called- someone will know here-

Did you list the annuity on any of these forms since filing the pension claim?

Did you have any private medical expenses that were deductible for pension purposes to put on the income form?

I think it is called an income verification form?

Did the vet rep see any possibility for filing for a higher SC rating?

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You have been getting shock therapy for 18 months and you are only rated 10%? Shock therapy is for the most severe depression where there is a chance the person will die due to just shutting down. You need to get a lawyer and file a claim for 100% benefits. Are you 10% for a psychiatric disorder. If so get a lawyer. You should not be fighing the VA and SSDI by yourself in your condition. Did you talk to a lawyer when your SSDI was stopped? I think you really need professional legal help.

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I see why you are concerned:

"I received a notice from the IRS for not filing in 2007. I didn't think I needed to, I was on SSDI only, but when my husband who was my payee died in October 2007, they immediately stopped my SSDI. I had an annuity from a former job that I was medically retired from when I got to sick to work in 1999. When I was in the va psychiatric hospital a veterans' representative encouraged me to file for the va pension. He submitted all the information, I don't recall if he included the annuity amount."

Who gets your SSDI as payee now?????? why did they 'stop' the SSDI? I assume this was for your own disability? Why would SSDI stop if you are still totally disabled. I don't have the details why it stopped, as I said I was hospitalized for almost eight months right after October 2007

"I don't recall if he included the annuity amount"

This could be critical if the VA proposes to stop the pension-

I suggest you call the vet rep who handled the application to see if the annuity was listed. I don't know who he is, all I can recall is that it was filled out at the veterans hospital in Waco Texas; I have requested all my medical records from there, do you think it would be in there or just medical reports? I am in San Antonio now.

Do you get annual income statements from VA for the pension? I forget what it s called- someone will know here- I received a statement dated March 2010 stating I did not have to fill out a EVR, I think that is what they call it, for 2009. I don't know if one was sent for 2008. I spent half of that year in the hospital and as a patient inhouse and out. I am under the care of the Mental Health Intensive Case Management team, I meet with the weekly to get my medications. Up until February of this year, they paid me house visits once a week, picked me up for appointments and shock therapy treatments. I have improved somewhat, so I take the bus to the va daily now, I attend coping classes through a group called Stepping Stones at the VA.

Did you list the annuity on any of these forms since filing the pension claim? No, I honestly didn't remember cashing it in in 2007. My husband was so sick, I just got a letter about it in the mail, so I filled out the forms, it came to late to help him, he died in October, I received it in December 2007. My VA rep filed for the pension in early 2008. I got my first pension in June of 2008.

Did you have any private medical expenses that were deductible for pension purposes to put on the income form? No, I had no private medical expenses, I know I was on medicare. My husband took care of all that, I had been housebound and I got care through the local MHMR in Bastrop, Texas since 99. I have been agoraphobic, bipolar, depressed and extreme anxiety since 1999. I see visions and I hear voices, they tell me to hurt myself, so I had ect before my husband died through MHMR too.

I think it is called an income verification form?

Did the vet rep see any possibility for filing for a higher SC rating? As I said, the VA rep was in the hospital at Waco, I only saw him once. I don't even recall his name.

I am working with my case manger down here, she just said that if I hear from the VA that they will allow me to make small payments or give me a waiver. I don't think she really knows for certain. I am trying so hard to work on this, MY BIGGEST FEAR IS THAT THEY WILL JUST STOP MY PENSION, LEAVING ME HOMELESS. Will they notify me first, give me time to get all the records and then do I go before them and make arrangements, or do they just stop it completely without warning? I am just terrified, again, I haven't yet heard anything from them, but I am sure it is coming.

I just don't have a cent to get legal help, I have $25 in my bank account, waiting on the first of the month and praying that my pension will come in on June 1. Just terrified.

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