Filed Nod With My Vso

[chr49]

I went to a new VSO (same organization - TN DVA) on Aug. 13th and filed a NOD on a July 28th rating decision. I haven't heard anything from the VA yet. My VSO says it could take 60 days before I hear anything at all but I don't remember it taking this long with a NOD I filed a couple years ago. I'm trying hard to be patient but don't want to wait too long either.

I may have mentioned this before, but I'm worried because I received a request for further information and sent in medical records & a statement in support of my claim in April and those records were ignored. When I made an IRIS inquiry about the records I'd filed, they came back saying: "Our records do not indicate receipt of the packet sent by your VSO after April 13, 2010; however, it appears that we received similar documents on February 16, 2010. If you feel that your packet was not received, you can resend the information via U.S. mail or fax". I followed up by requesting my C-file and found date stamped (4/20/10) evidence that they had received my packet. Everything I'd sent was in my c-file. This is upsetting to me because there were medical records, pertinent to one of my claims and that evidence is not shown in my decision letter. I'm at a loss and the new VSO doesn't offer much support on how to follow thru.

Any suggestions on how should I proceed? How long should I wait to hear about the NOD I filed on 8/13/10?

Edited September 30, 2010 by chr49

[chr49]

If you have access to E-benefits, there is a section there for showing appealed cases. That might have some information on your appeal, or, at least whether they received it or not. Good luck!

Pat,

Thanks for the reminder....so far there's nothing showing on e-Benefits, but I've never had much luck with the site. It's never up to date in my case.

[chr49]

Well since you just filed a NOD on 08/13/2010, in the next month or so you should

receive something from VA saying they received it.

My thoughts are that the evidence that was not of record when this decision

was promulgated (if it supports granting the issues contained in your NOD)

could be viewed by the VARO as additional evidence for a reconsideration,

if you were to request they do so.

Remember the NOD clock would still be ticking as you can't have both at the same time.

JMHO.

Thanks Carlie, I was thinking along those lines. It's difficult to know whether to go with a reconsideration or not. I recently obtained a "more likely than not" IMO (following the guidelines I've found on Hadit & locating a specialist in the area I'm dealing with). I thought I'd take it to my VSO and ask about going the reconsideration route with a request to review the omitted medical records & the IMO as additional evidence. So, my question is, can a reconsideration hold things up to the point of not having time to take the traditional route?

[john999]

Chr49

You have a lot of decisions to make. Just keep in mind your time deadlines. One year for a NOD. That is in stone. Don't cut it close. There are always lots of ways to go. DRO vs BVA; reconsideration vs NOD, VSO v lawyer or doing it all yourself. Just as long as you choose in time it is ok.

[Pete53]

I am starting to wonder about IRIS especially when they depend on the RO;s and it was said here that Houston RO was just putting in April