Vcaa

[Berta]

Within the 459,315 cases at the BVA, the word Remand appears in 344,075 of them.

Often it refers to a prior remand-

However -ALL claims filed after Nov 9,2000 or were undecided as of that date,

are required to get a VCAA letter notifying the veteran of what evidence their claim specifically needs to

succeed.

Of the 344,075 cases at BVA with the word Remand in them -

many are like this claim:

http://www.va.gov/vetapp03/files/0305362.txt

This is a disgrace-

every time I read one of this I get really angry-

Vet (Army NG) filed claim probably in 2000) the decision says it was filed Prior to the VCAA enactment-- it can take at least two years to go to the BVA- it was pending at time of new VCAA regs

this decision is dated March 21, 2003,

the vet had 3 years in already and then got a remand-much more time added to the claim-

This is disgraceful-

The vet had no POA- but POAs are allowing this to occur-

When I got into the veteran's community in 1986 here in NY- the saying was "most of these Sos and vet reps are in bed with the ROs"-

They dont have to get in that position-now- all a vet rep or SO has to do is stand idly by and not challenge the lack of a VCAA letter when a claimant gets their first denial-

if they dont want to do much to help the vet- this sets up a remand and gets it all out of the vet reps hair-as they sit back in their PC chair and wait for their retirement date to come-

If you had a claim pending on or filed after Nov 9, 2000- got denied and didnt get a VCAA letter-

unless you provide them with significant additional evidence, your claim will go to the BVA and then= one-two years later , it will be remanded back to the very people who should have sent you the VCAA Notice.

What a scam and vet reps are putting up with this-in support of the VA.

[Berta]

I believe my IMOS were ignored BECAUSE I did not get the VCAA election notice.

If the BVA finds that the evidence is sufficient to award they will not find any VCAA error as prejudicial.

Vet files claim,----- denied denied,SOC blah blah, no VCAA letter or notice---

(already a procedural defect that must be cured by VA before a proper decision can be made)-

Vet sends VARO 4 IMos during course of denials Socs, etc-all ignored.

The claim is transferred to the BVA.

BVA sees four IMOs in the c file.They all support the claim.

BVA awards the claim. It is sent to the VARO for proper rating and award $$$.

This is a real claim- dont have the link saved-

My ROs violation of the VCAA,in my case, is prejudicial because they have not read my IMOs.

They did not advise me that I would even need IMOs.

They did not advise me at all under VCAA what I needed to succeed.

I found a BVA decision-widow's VCAA rights violated- the BVA remanded and told the RO to tell her she needs an IMO. The widow had years in already and where was her Vet rep or SO who allowed this to occur?

She had one on the brief at BVA.

Vet reps and Sos are adding to this problem.

Each claim must get a specific VCAA letter-I have been promised 2-3-

that never came on other claims I have at the RO.

If you can get a VBM and read the info there on the VCAA-

and NVLSP knows they are doing this crap-

most of you will really get ticked off on how you were illegally denied.

Edited August 28, 2006 by Berta

[qrdgv2tebc]

Patrick- my whole point on VCAA Gate- I call this a major scam to veterans-and suggest others write- as I did to:

Chairman Larry Craig

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs

412 Russell Ave

Senate Office Building

Washington, D. C. 20510

Tell Senator Craig exactly what you told us here- send your VARO director a copy of this letter-

The VCAA prohibits a valid claim to be denied without proper VCAA Notice and Election form.

Also the VCAA notification must be specific as to what you need to succeed.

Cite Pelegrini V. Principi, 18 Vet App 112 (2004)

the VCAA itself,

and 38 USCS Section 5103 (a)

Ask the VARO VSM to CUE their past decisions on your claim due to precedural defect and error ,causing you

to receive a prejudiced decision.

Later today if I have time I will post a CUE sample letter for vets to send VAROs if they did not receive VCAA letter and election stuff.

[qrdgv2tebc]

Patrick- my whole point on VCAA Gate- I call this a major scam to veterans-and suggest others write- as I did to:

Chairman Larry Craig

U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs

412 Russell Ave

Senate Office Building

Washington, D. C. 20510

Tell Senator Craig exactly what you told us here- send your VARO director a copy of this letter-

The VCAA prohibits a valid claim to be denied without proper VCAA Notice and Election form.

Also the VCAA notification must be specific as to what you need to succeed.

Cite Pelegrini V. Principi, 18 Vet App 112 (2004)

the VCAA itself,

and 38 USCS Section 5103 (a)

Ask the VARO VSM to CUE their past decisions on your claim due to precedural defect and error ,causing you

to receive a prejudiced decision.

Later today if I have time I will post a CUE sample letter for vets to send VAROs if they did not receive VCAA letter and election stuff.

[qrdgv2tebc]

Hi Berta

Thank you for the info, i hope you will be able to find the time to post a sample letter, that would help so much.

Patrick

[Berta]

Hi Berta

Thank you for the info, i hope you will be able to find the time to post a sample letter, that would help so much.

Patrick

This is what I sent them: I also suggest send a copy to Chairman Craig and tell him what happened to you.

I dont have time to post the VBM page- and I realised I already put this letter here somewhere-

Quote the page etc of the VBM and the legal citations -if you dont have a copy of VBM.

If this is a procedural error (Most VCAA violations are because they deny before you get one) this seems to me only way I can think of to get it resolved at the RO level. I will be 'talking' to Watchdog Larry about this VCAA Gate as it call it--too- many vets do not realize the VA is violating their VCAA rights.

Ms. (Their VSM) August 22, 2006

Department of Veterans Affairs

Regional Office Re: XC XX XXX XXXXX

130 South Elmwood Avenue

Suite 601

Buffalo, N. Y. 14202-2478

Dear Ms. XXXX,

I am asking you-the VARO- to CUE ( to make a VARO finding of clear and unmistakable error) in regards to your past decisions regarding my claim of Feb 2003 for direct service connection of my husband’s death (Rod Simmons, DOD XXXXXXX) due to Diabetes Mellitus contributing to causes of death as listed in his death certificate and autopsy, incurred by virtue of his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

VCAA letters regarding my claims, as you wrote to me in January,2006 would be sent to me. None ever came. The July 23, 2006 letter I received from you (re: 307/CAO/21) is not a formal or legal VCAA Notification at all. I never received any election form nor any request as to what I would need to send to you- specific to this claim. There is no signed election form in my c file because you failed to send me one.

I have enclosed the National Veterans Legal Service Programs statement regarding proper notification under the VCAA. And of course you can see what I mean in Pelegrini V. Principi, 38 C.F.R. 3.159, and as found within provisions published within M21-1.

Enclosed:

VBM, 2005 Edition (NVLSP) page 1307 highlighted Respectfully,

CC: NYSDVA

Pete XXXX

Gerry XXXXXX Berta M. Simmons

[Berta]

Let me clarify this-

Any procedural defect or error that prejudices a claim must be corrected before a correct VA decision can be made.

What that means is if your rights were violated under the VCAA 2000 -even in a past decision-

your claim went down the tube if the violation of the VCAA caused it to-

Go to the BVA site and put Remand into the search browser and you will see what I mean.

If the VA fails to send you a proper VCAA Notice with election boxes and with a narrative that is specific to each claim (If you file five claims-you should get 5 VCAA notices)

then they deny your claim- they have committed a procedural error and caused a defect and this can be challenged at the VARO level with a request that they CUE themselves.

I have no BVA example of this- I did this before in 1997 and it worked-in 3 weeks they resolved the issue- and when I raised hell via email inquery asking them to CUE a Decision I had just received in 2005 --I then got a new immediate DRO review so apparently it worked again.

But i got same DRO and she still didnt learn how to read-when I got that Dec SSOC bullcrap-

again no mention of my IMOS or medical evidence-

Then I realized that the VCAA "letter" they sent me was NOT a VCAA Notice and Jangrin posted a real one.

A real VCAA notice, as the BVA told one VARO recently regarding a remand for a widow would suggest to the widow to get an IMO regarding her husband's death.

Had I gotten a real VCAA Notice I could have gotten an IMO when I first filed my AO in Feb 2003.

And then elected the VA on the notice to address the evidence I had and then make a decision.

HOWEVER_ a claim that has no possible substantiation will NOT get a VCAA notice-

Like if you said you were AO Blue Water vet and got some disability from AO-

If your DD 214 clearly shows that you do not have VSM or AFEC and never stepped foot on a Navy boat let alone Vietnam soil-or anywhere in southeast Asia - the VA most probably (and correctly) wont send you a VCAA notice.

Edited September 2, 2006 by Berta