ptsd Letter Of Reconsideration A New Claim?

[MikeS]

Hi all:

I submitted a Letter of Reconsideration for a denial of Housebound benefits this past July 26th.

ebenefits shows that the VA is calling my letter a Claim dated 7/29/2011.

Because the Letter of Reconsideration is not an Appeal (NOD), is that why they refer to it as a Claim?

The original claim for Housebound was denied 3/2011, so I still have time for an NOD.

But, because my Claim or Letter is "In Development" according to ebenefits, I thought that I would wait until 2/2012 to see what happens.

FYI: My original claim was only for SMC-S Housebound. To my surprise, I was increased from 70% TDIU T&P for PTSD to 100% T&P for PTSD with Panic Disorder and Depressive Disorder. But the SMC -S Housebound was denied.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Mike S.

[john999]

Your reconsideration for HB is not a new claim. It is an appeal of the old denial so your effective date should be the date you first claimed HB if you win. The VA may be playing games.

[Pete53]

Mike S

Nice to see you post. You need to prove your claim if the C&P did not do it.

[sharon]

A request for reconsideration is not an appeal. If you send it without medical evidence it is considered a reopened claim. If you have not received a decision before 2/2012 file your appeal. Do not miss your 1 year limit to file the appeal.

[john999]

Sharon

If MikeS wins his reconsideration he should get the original effective date, correct? He would be asking the VA to take another look at his original claim. If he does not have new evidence he might as well file a NOD because the same people who considered it the first time are going to look at it again and probably make the same decision. This is how I see it.

[MikeS]

Pete, Sharon, and John:

In the letter of reconsideration, I submitted new medical evidence from my VA Doc which stated that he made "a grammatical error" on one of my progress notes that was used as the prime reason for the denial.

It was an honest "clerical error" by my VA Doc.

BUT.............Had the "rater" read the "whole" progress note, he/she would have seen that it was very clearly a clerical error in grammar.

My VA Doc is a good guy. He saw the grammatical error, made the correction in a new progress note, gave me a copy, we moved on.

It was also very easy with my VA Doc because he diagnosed me with panic disorder and agoraphobia and being housebound long before my C&P.

Ain't his fun?

Thanks,

Mike S.

[john999]

That sounds good to me!