Vsos - What To Expect?

[DblTap1]

Can anyone tell me what a VSO should be doing? Maybe a laymans rundown of what an introduction through performace should be like. It's difficult to tell good from bad when I have no idea of a standard.

Thank you

[deanbrt]

A VSO will help you fill out paper work and that is it. If you expect them to advocate for you, forget it.

the Legion might. The bottom line is they are all looking to see if you have an IMO to support your claim. If you do not, they are going to blow you off..

[john999]

If a lawyer can help you win your claim and you tell all your friends about this "great" lawyer who worked magic on your claim that is very good advertising. If there are just a few bucks involved then they probably won't write a 50 page brief for you. What they want is retro % without too much grief. I had to shop my CUE claim around even though there was potential many thousands of dollars in retro.

[jbasser]

Well it is a loaded question.

Do you want your VSO to discuss your claim with the RO.Perhaps since they have office space provided by the VA maybe they can do it over lunch, or at a RO sponsered VSO training,

Ever heard of Divide and Conquor?

Why are there so many different VSO organizations?

Stay away from them.

J

[DblTap1]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

JBasser, I am at a loss. I am not sure how to answer your questions. I am not sure what the people do at the office located with the VA. I have never been there and I have not been to that VA since the mid 1990s. I only deal with the two offices near home about 2.5 hours from there. I'm sorry I couldn't help you.

[Stretch]

Johns questions were rhetorical.

Everyone who has replied to this post has found out, through their own experience, what the VSO's are like. All of us have done hard work to win our claims. You can find out the same way we did by sticking with a VSO. My initial claim took 6 years, with over 3 years wasted on a VSO.

Unfortunately there are many of us that are in such a condition that it appears that we cannot do it ourselves. Sadly a person like this would have to take what ever the VSO says as the absolute truth. If a VSO has a conflict of interest it could be that his judgment is impaired, and that this impairment would not be in the Veterans favor.

You must dig in to the knowledge that is available here and anywhere else that may be helpful.

[Berta]

I agree with Philip.

I have purchased the VBM every year since 1991.

Stretch is right- a VSO is a good 'clerk' if they keep copies of whatever you submit to VA and can support anything they sent too that VA said they never received.

Testvet's info is interesting. Think maybe the state reps might even make more then that.

Vet reps and VSOs, accredited with the VA are paid. Volunteer advocates, like the many people here at hadit ,are unpaid.

Since we are all claimants too, we can share a wealth of hands on VA claims experience as well as specific technical aspects to the claims process.

Broncovet, you are right. I certainly did have vet reps years ago but they were useless.

I won all my claims due to 3 specific reasons:

I studied the VBMs intently.as well as the regulations that applied to my claims.

I studied cardiology and neurology for one of my claims.Although I presented lay medical evidence, the VA had to award those claims (FTCA/1151) but I dont advise anyone else depending on lay medical evidence in most claims situations.

For one of my last claims, I obtained 3 IMOs.The research I had done for that claim was medically solid so I knew my investment of $4,000 for 2 of the IMOs would be easily absorbed by the retroactive amount of the eventual award.

Unfortunately these days it often takes a strong IMO to succeed in many claims.

My most recent claim involved a decision that was clearly erroneous and I really raised a ruckus.

Three weeks later I got the proper award letter and retro.

That claim included a CUE claim that I had pending for 7 years as well as an IHD AO claim regarding my deceased husband.

In August 2010 when I filed the IHD claim, I again laid out my medical evidence,gearing it solely to the IHD claim , laid out again the legal evidence for the CUE claim, and then took VA step by step as to any medical issues that established the basis for the CUE claim ( an SMC matter that involved the IHD and a CVA my husband had)

It ihas been miserable to have to keep repeating my issues and copying the evidence again and again for VA over the years but I dont regret doing that. I have at least 350-400 dollars worth of proof of Priority mail tracking slips accumulated over the past 17 years too. I dont regret that either.

Since VA got on to these documents very fast when I asked them to CUE the first erroneous and ridiculous decision, this past December,the proper award letter came soon after that.

I am quite sure there is not a single vet rep or VSO out there who would have used my approach. I found some of them seem scared to deal with VA ,when VA makes an obvious error.And every rep I had in the past insinuated right away that my claims would fail.

Salaried vet reps and VSOs have no monetary gain if a claim succeeds.They certainly are happy if a claim on their POA succeeds but then they often discourage the claimant from filing any more claims or questioning an award that could be wrong.

But a lot of my impetus comes from what my husband said to me the day he died.

I had promises to fulfill to him.

Even now ,I find his words that day have caused me to begin to prepare both a NOD on the award I got a few months ago as well as file a new Sec 1151 claim.

I hate to think about doing that,but every claim I ever filed ,or helped my husband with in his lifetime, has had some aspect that ,I hope, has helped others here over the years. My experience helped his best friend mere months after he died as I was familiar with the Section 1151 regs by then. His friend ,visiting me, didn't understand at all what I was concerned about when he described some surgery he had just had at the VAMC.. I typed the claim up fast, he signed it, copied it and mailed it and within months he went from 40% GSW to 100 % P & T SC plus SMC under 1151.

No IMO needed and no BS from the VA. It was obvious malpractice and they almost killed him.

But probably no rep would have even picked up on the 1151 basis .

DBLTAP1 Something you said here concerned me:

“As I am approaching the one year mark I have considered calling the local office “

Do you mean the NOD one year deadline?

I would never depend, in my opinion,for a vet rep to help prepare a NOD.

We have templates here to use and the NOD, as the first avenue of attack, should not be a long rendition but still, a strong statement as to why their decision was wrong, and usually by enclosing some pertinent evidence to prove why it was wrong.

VA is very adamant one the one year NOD deadline. If that is what you mean, how much time is left?

There is enough info at hadit for any veteran to prepare an adequate NOD themselves and,if you are willing toi be proactive and use the internet as a powerful tool, you are the BEST vet rep or VSO you will ever have.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Berta