Why Would The Varo File A "blank" Claim For Comp For Me?

[justrluk]

Any opinions would be most helpful. I had an almost two-year-old claim close the other day. That same day, the VARO opened another claim for compensation that's blank. No contentions. The claim was complete when closed; all issues addressed to my satisfaction. Any clues??

Also, for some reason they called and asked for my youngest son's SSAN. I didn't give it to the woman on the phone, but I did call the 800 and the person confirmed they needed it for dependency. He's six and I've been getting paid correctly since his birth, yet they opened another claim for dependency. Still confused as to why, when they've been paying me correctly.

Does anyone have any speculation they care to share on this??? The mystery is truly annoying.

Thanks!

[sharon]

If the SSAN of your son was not on file, and he is over two years old, they would have to verify his SSAN. If you had not provided the information they would have retroactively removed him from your claim. They have to have a claim in the system to work the issue.

[justrluk]

Thanks, Sharon! That explains the claim for dependency, but what about the other claim now on file that I didn't file? It's blank and Peggy couldn't tell me what it was a claim for. It just says "Claim Received" with no conditions.

[71M10]

Could the blank claim be there to pad the offices stats????

Edited April 5, 2012 by 71M10

[broncovet]

I will do some speculation.

First, remember the VA defination of "claim" can change. The CAVC has addressed the "defination of claim". They indicated that

"claim" can mean "issue of a claim", a "claim" for increase, a "claim for DIC, etc., etc, or it can refer to the Veterans "claim", suggesting the VA is charged with considiring the Veteran is seeking the maximum claim for benefits. Several possibilitie

1. Where did you get your information? Was it ebenefits? The reason I asked is that it may or may not be accurate. It simply may be wrong. It would not be the first time ebenefits or other parts of the VA were wrong.

2. The VA is not allowed to ignore an issue...while they do this all the time anyway, remember the VA is a huge organization and one or more employees simply may be complying with the law addressing each issue "reasonably raised by the record". Something in your C file could have raised another issue. Remember, the Va often interprets our evidence as they see fit. So they could have interpreted a claim of increase as a claim, an appeal as a reopening due to new and material evidence, etc.

3. Dependency. I recently sent an IRIS to the VA...I asked why I had not been paid for dependents in college..they put that in ebenefits as a "dependency claim".

4. Your VSO could have saw something he thought you were eligible for, and filed it for you. Example: NEhmer benefits. If you are a Nehmer class member, then there is a chance your cfile is being reviewed to see if you are entitled to an EED. Another example is Bradley Peake, you may have become eligible for SMC under Bradley vs Peake.

5. Lastly, and hopefully least, there is an outiside chance the VA is trying to do a reduction on you, and this is the first you find out about it. Perhaps this is the way you find out..before you get a notice of "proposed reduction". I hope it is not this one, but you should find that out fairly quickly if that is the case. Dont expect the VA to delay THAT ONE>

[#1Cavtrooper]

I wouldn't think so.....

[justrluk]

Thanks guys for jumping in. I'm good with the dependency claim. If I'm lucky, they're pushing the appeal. If I'm unlucky, they're trying to reduce. Best case, it's just a ghost of something else going on. Either way, I'll just have to wait. Just when I thought all had been resolved so the appeals could move forward!