Va Rater Back To St. Paul, Mn

[teejay53]

i found out today my dic claim left rater on june 9, 2010 and went back to dic and pension department in st. paul, mn and the va rep will not provide any info other than this. is a good thing or bad thing on the benefit decision?

thank you for your opinions.

tj

[yanne_98]

I am a Widow, with Indemnity & Compensation Claim at the St Paul MN Service Center also. Oct. 8, 2OO9 Husband died; Oct. 28, 2OO9 Filed. Dec. 4, 2OO9 Claims received it. July 2O1O, VA sends they NEED 2 papers-DD214 & D/C which 26 Pages, those Included WERE sent! I resent immediately. Then, now almost End of Aug. and -O-. If U are hoping for the 4-6 month wait & Receive $, well U need to read on! Being a Pauper, NO way to Pay Bills, etc. WON'T matter. I was taken in by a Samaritan, so I wouldn't Starve!

[Katie]

I am a Widow, with Indemnity & Compensation Claim at the St Paul MN Service Center also. Oct. 8, 2OO9 Husband died; Oct. 28, 2OO9 Filed. Dec. 4, 2OO9 Claims received it. July 2O1O, VA sends they NEED 2 papers-DD214 & D/C which 26 Pages, those Included WERE sent! I resent immediately. Then, now almost End of Aug. and -O-. If U are hoping for the 4-6 month wait & Receive $, well U need to read on! Being a Pauper, NO way to Pay Bills, etc. WON'T matter. I was taken in by a Samaritan, so I wouldn't Starve!

[Berta]

I am so sorry no one replied to this yet-----

I too am a widow and can state emphatically that we get treated the same as many of our nation's veterans-

by VA-

(Often meaning treated like second class citizens, with no respect for our loss or for our evidence)

You could go to http://www.va.gov/

and use the "Contact Us" button and make a formal IRIS request as to the status of your claim and the whereabouts of the evidence you have sent.

It takes 2-3 weeks sometimes for evidence to be assopciated with a C file and often that long for it to show up on the IRIS system computers.

Do you have a vet rep?

As a widow I never had one that understood my claim- however if you have rep they also can accept evidence from you with copy of your proof of mailing slips as well as send it to the VA themselves for you.They will put copies into their POA file on you and this is one more way to insure VA gets your stuff.

I have been a VA claimant many times re: many issues.

I learned you have to keep on them as to evidence.

I am mailing today evidence they recently seem to have lost -that I sent in on August 4th 2010.

Does your DIC claim involve any of the new Agent Orange Presumptives?

[Katie]

I admit I don't know anything about the VA and how it operates but............... what I'm reading is that is takes over a year to your claim accepted or denied? How can ANY organization JUSTIFY this type of response time? I fully realize that a raters job can't be all that easy, but a yr to make a decision? Isn't there someone that can help you move your claim faster? Good luck to you and my prayers are that your claim will be answered soon and things will be better. Just don't give up hope!!!!

Kate

[teejay53]

thank you for your help.

have a happy and safe holiday.

teejay

[VetsDaughter]

Hello all.

I am not a vet.

But i am a dependent of one.

My father passed Jan.3rd 2010

My mom has gone through something similar as both of you are now.

Let me just say, that it did take a long time before my mom recieved her award letter. Like, said my dad passed Jan. 3rd 2010, my mom filed Jan 26 2010.

She just recieved her award letter after 11 months of waiting, This past Saturday (the 18th of dec) We heard through some people (not the VA) that they have waited years before receiving a letter.

My mom asked the VA directly how long it usually takes. We were told, ours was taking longer than usual, but it usually doesnt take a year for a decision to be made. Only if you were denied the first time and then appealed it, does it take years. (she was not)

I also want to let you know. When you call that 1-800 number you will never get the same answer.... ever.

My mom was told her case was sent away for a second opinion. She was told, it was at the rater, when it fact it wasn't. She was told, records were not recieved when in fact she personally sent them in herself. No answer was ever the same the next time she called.

My mother even contacted our congressman to see if he could do something, He put in an inquiry for her personally.

Once at the rater, it will go to a supervisor who must sign off on your claim decision. That can take 10-40 days. I remember someone telling me that the VA would not give time frames, though we were told a correct time frame for her award letter. The VA actually called us personally and told us it would be only a few more weeks.

My best advice to you both, who are waiting and waiting and struggling is, TO CALL EVERYDAY!

My mom started calling everyday the past two months and of course your calls are logged so I think they hurried to finish her claim because they were sick of hearing from her. haha

Ask whomever you speak to on the phone t,o put an inquiriy. Too see what is going on. My mom also personally faxed in a hand written letter stating her situation of our home foreclosing, stuggling to pay bills and asking them to honor the vet who died for this country.

I feel that helped.

It couldnt help to ask whoever you speak to, to extradite your claim.

Good luck and keep your head up.

Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best.