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Strange Va Letter About Severance Pay Recoupment

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MadMav

Question

I need a little advice from the crowd.

I am service rated at 80%, but received severance pay for degenerative joint disease at 20%. I have been repaying this pay at 20% of my monthy disability pay. Scheduled out to 2041 for repayment. This is to pay back the total of the severance pay minus Federal Tax withholding. But it now seems they are adding that into the mix now and wanting to repay the total??? I was under the impression this could not be done after Sep 30 1996(I was discharged in 2009).

I just received a letter stating....

"We are proposing to extend the withholding for your disability severance pay. Accordingly we propose to begin withholding all of your VA Compensation until your disability severance pay allowance is paid back."

Yet below that statement in the "revised" comenstion payment chart of the letter it still has me receiving my benefits, minus the adjusted 20% withholding(guessing for the cost of living raise we got). Still all the way until 2041.

It appears from the statement that they are going to withhold ALL of my disabilty compensation, but the revised compensation chart does not reflect this in any way.

My question is this.......can they withhold ALL of my disability compensation or is there a percent they can go up to? Like the 20% it is now? If they can and are going to do this(I intend to call them), how can I fight it? We have been receiving this disability for nearly 3 years now and have came to depend on it. Thank you for any help you can provide!

Mav

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Tenya,

    You asked this question in someone else's post, please begin a new one.  I will answer you "just this one time" but you will get more answers in a new post.  

    You can still find an attorney to represent you, but that all depends on the details of your case.  For example, what is the retro potential?  Can an attorney find a way to win an EED?  I suggest you take your file to an attorney (or several) and ask them.  

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This is not an answer per se, but some active duty logic from a former U.S. Air Force Officer.  I am possibly going to have to have a Hearing about my long-time prior Separation/Severance pay.  I see online that many Veterans had their recouped initially or close to that, my case differs in that it is around 9 years later where they're coming at me (during the COVID-19 pandemic too).  As I stated, this is not necessarily VA logic, but the active duty thought process is always if they offer a Hearing - take or Request it.  If they offer Representation - take or Request it.  I've seen a full up Hearing on active duty, and my victory was the desired result happened after the 'trial.'  My gut tells me the VA want the same '3 bags full' mindset, so if you're going to disagree/fight with them - they want a "shoot for the stars" attitude as to how far you'll go to plead your case.  Although I wasn't Navy, "we're in a similar boat" because if this comes to a Hearing for me to keep my Compensation from being docked for long-since paid Severance pay - that is what I'm striving to go for!

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This is for the new member , Former USAF Capt.who posted 14 hours ago here:

https://themilitarywallet.com/withhold-va-disability-compensation/

Do you receive CRDP or CRSC?

 

Maybe a Moderator can fix this thread.

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To add there are many appeals at the BVA regarding recoupment:

https://www.index.va.gov/search/va/bva_search.jsp?QT=recoupment+of+separation+pay&EW=&AT=&ET=&RPP=10&DB=2020

This link will take you to 35 decisions on this subject that BVA has made in 2020.

Can you scan and attach here the VA letter , that holds the regulations they are using?

Cover your C file # and name, address prior to scanning it.

"You said:Compensation from being docked for long-since paid Severance pay - that is what I'm striving to go for!"

What triggered the VA to send this letter- did you file a recent claim?

The vet law firm CCK has this statement from their full article on recoupment.

Is this what VA is trying to do to you?

 

"When you receive disability severance pay, DoD will specify which disability (or disabilities) the disability severance pay is intended to cover. If you are later granted service connection for disabilities that are not related to your disability severance pay, VA is not allowed to withhold more than the amount to which you are entitled based on the non-severance-pay disability/disabilities. Essentially, VA can’t recoup the disability severance pay from the money you get for disabilities that were service connected after separation."

https://cck-law.com/blog/separation-pay-va-disability-compensation/

 

Edited by Berta
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  • HadIt.com Elder

Welcome to Hadit. You can appeal the withholding and if you can show sufficient hardship you may have it forgiven but it is very hard to do. At least you have won your rating so that will be good no matter what happens. I hope that others respond this is not really much more than an opinion from me.

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