Are We Better Off Without So's?

[KennyJ]

I have come to position of asking myself what good are SO's. No doubt there are some good ones but the bad overwhelm the good by such a wide margin that it is a shame. Called my DAV SO Wednesday asked about my claims and Appeals. Filed new secondary claims and reopened claims in February of this year. She told me that Appeals could take up to 2 to 3 years, which I knew this, but then she said the new claims and reopened claims could take the same length of time before I would hear anything on them also. I thought that I heard somewhere that new claims are usually acted upon within a year so I called the 800# and the Rep told me that new and re opened claims are usually responded to within 8 months. I don,t really know who is right , that is why I turn to the knowledgeable people here. Another thing why everytime you call your SO they say they were just looking at your file?

[Alex]

Folks --

Dump all over me, but I think a lot of beefing about service reps is killing the messenger who brings you the bad news. Some claims are just on-starters and shpould not be appealed, much less brought in the first place.

I have done thousand of claims, won more of them than anyone I know, and I have to receive more than one thank you note and one fruit cake. So it is pretty thankless work. I am sure vets bad mouth me for losing the claims that I do.

If you want to do you own claim, do it, but it always valuable to have a SO as a resource to bounce ideas off. Most know what makes a claim fly and what makes a claim sink. I welcome vet who wants to get into that sort of arrangement with me, but frankly I don't trust 98% to do their own work.

There are exceptions: One guy who had done his own claim retained me because he just wanted someone in the hearing room to kick him under the table if hesai something wrong or started to ramble. In the interview beforehand, I sized him up and thought he could do it. And the VLJ halted him in the middle of the hearing, saying that she had heard enough and was going to grant his appeal. I wish I ad more clients like him.

Alex

Alex

Folks --

Dump all over me, but I think a lot of beefing about service reps is killing the messenger who brings you the bad news. Some claims are just on-starters and shpould not be appealed, much less brought in the first place. I think a lot of SO's let bad claims go forward so that they do not have to be the bad guys ... they can blame VA.

I think this really disserves vets by getting their hopes up. I am not to the point of Bill Smith, a legendary sservice rep who claimed that he could get any present condition service connected, but I can always say what your claims needs is this and this and this.

I have done thousand of claims, won more of them than anyone I know, and I have to receive more than one thank you note and one fruit cake. So it is pretty thankless work. I am sure vets bad mouth me for losing the claims that I do.

If you want to do you own claim, do it, but it always valuable to have a SO as a resource to bounce ideas off. Most know what makes a claim fly and what makes a claim sink. I welcome vet who wants to get into that sort of arrangement with me, but frankly I don't trust 98% to do their own work.

There are exceptions: One guy who had done his own claim retained me because he just wanted someone in the hearing room to kick him under the table if hesai something wrong or started to ramble. In the interview beforehand, I sized him up and thought he could do it. And the VLJ halted him in the middle of the hearing, saying that she had heard enough and was going to grant his appeal. I wish I ad more clients like him.

Alex

[Pete53]

Alex makes a good point and I relealize that a lot of desperate Veterans file claims that are not possible to win but isn't that also part of SO's job to tell a Veteran that he has a bad claim?

[foreveryoung]

Some of this hits home. I had a SO about 12 year ago tell me similar stories about not having evidence for my claims to move forward. I was shocked and surprised why someone who is in a position to help Vets. would come off like that.

Needless to say I didn’t follow his advice. In the last 6 years I have going back and forth with the VA on my own and with some advice from this forum over several issues. I have taking my SC from 10% to 80% + a 10% award.

I still have a ways to go, and I’m still looking for some helpful information to support present and future claims.

There are some good SO’s out there, but as it was said earlier, they have a lot of Vets. after them for advice and support and I guess it gets overwhelming at times.

Just my 2cents.

[Jay Johnson]

Alex,

I think you're missing the point here. SOs do help vets win cases, but they do not help vets become less dependent on SOs by fixing the system. As it stands now, veterans have NO national voice to speak of accept SO's and these So's will not take a national public stand against the VA (never have, never will). This isn't an issue of "ify" claims or weak evidence...it's an issue of VAROs grossly violating regulations and getting away with it EVERY time because the SOs won't hold them accountable.

Again, who cares if YOU or I win our claims if a thousand other vets loose or quit out of frustration for claims that should clearly be won? What do we gain as a nation of disabled vets if we keep having to fight one battle at a time? If these SO's won't stand up for us for the big issues, then who is supposed to?

I say boycott the SO's until they truly decide to help vets and not just string them along, status quo, one at a time.

[Tbird]

this may surprise some folks but i always use an so i've had bad, good and indifferent. but i always have one, usually one that other veterans recommended. i try to work my claim hand in hand with the so, therapist, and doctor. when i'm going up agains the va i want all the support staff i can muster. it's worked for me, i've had some very bad ones and a couple of great ones it just depends.

[KennyJ]

Its not that I don't think SOs are helpful because I Know they are in their own way. I think most of them once they filed your case don't look at it again until months later after the VARO has contacted them. I know this was true in my case that I filed in 2003 , my SO said my claim was denied and he had no suggestions as what to send to the DRO. After doing much research in the library( didn't know about hadit then) I found the crucial piece of evidence to overturn the decision. To make matters worse the SO didn't know anything about the Presumption of Soundness Rule. After the DRO overturned the decision he sat up the second appointment That I ever had with him in a year to tell me about his win.