Please Help, I Dont Understand

[RussellDuncan]

I need some help from those more knowledgeable. Here is my issue time line:
Retire July 2011 due to medical injury issues (24 years service)
Filed with VA for disability August 2011.
Claim 1/2 complete in March 2013 rated 50% with items deferred.
Sent in my election to receive Compensation Form VA21-651 April 1st as requested so they could start monthly compensation.
No disability pay received May 1st.
Remainder of claim complete and closed April 20th 2013, Rated at 100% permanent and Total.
No pay received in June.
New claim opened up 20 May 2013 labeled (Eligibility determination)
Called DFAS twice and they have never received anything from the VA reporting my disability level as indicated in the paperwork I received from VA in March and in April.
VA says there is no financial account opened up under my SSN and there is no determination when I will be paid my monthly compensation. What is this eligibility determination claim all about???? How long does this one take????
I am at my wits end.... No wonder we have so many suicides with returning service members if this is the battle we have to face when thrown into civilian life.
__________________
MAC(SW/AW) Russell S. Duncan, USN RET

[Berta]

I certainly can relate to your level of frustration.

However, it appears to me that VA made a partial disability grant of 50% ,with something they deferred and then awarded this:

“Remainder of claim complete and closed April 20th 2013, Rated at 100% permanent and Total. “

I cant tell here if you are eligible for CRDP or CRSC ,but one thing is for sure,

April 20 2013 isnt that far in the past ,and the VA as well as DFAS do not move too fast at all.

The deferred and then awarded closed claim might well have held up transfer of this info from VA to DFAS because there sure is a big difference in 50% and 100% for both DFAS and VA purposes.

Do you have a VSO or vet rep?

Have you used the IRIS system to try to get a better status?

Go to

http://www.va.gov/ and clock on the “contact Us “ part at the right to top of VA main page.

This will take you step by step to the VA's Integrated Response system.

I always suggest asking ,(on the IRIS form) for email responses and not a phone call because VA phone calls have no hard copy .

This might well be a SOP delay and I bet many retirees wait much longer for VA comp and DFAS retro to get squared away on this type of claim.

As you experienced already the VA claims process is long and there is a significant backlog.

Hopefully other retirees here will chime in as I think this might just be due to the additional award of 100% and VA would not send to DFAS a partial award of 50% with something deferred ,in my opinion,until the deferred issue was resolved, as it was in your case.

I think, but could be wrong, that the eligibility determination might involve CRSC ,with the 100% award.

Some retirees are eligible under the criteria for both CRDP and CRSC and can elect only one benefit.

[RussellDuncan]

Thanks for the info Berta. It is just frustrating when you call the VA and the person on the phone is bewildered along with you why they havent even started the monthly entitlement pay and cant give you an answer as to what the Eligibility Determination claim is all about and who initiated it. I would fall under CRDP as I am a retiree (24 years). I know nothing moves quick in government however I would have thought that DFAS would have at least been notified of the disability determination a month and a half later after they close the claim. Guess it is just more hurry up and wait. Just hate falling deeper and deeper in debt as I wait because I am unable to work.

[Notorious Kelly]

Sorry to hear of your struggles, Russell - we can relate.

I agree with Berta about using IRIS; I've had better response there than with calling.

Choose Ask A Question here: https://iris.custhelp.com/

Good luck!

[RussellDuncan]

I have another request into IRIS, this will be my third IRIS request. The last response I got was that my claim is closed and it is with the Buffalo office being "processed".

[Berta]

Well 'closed and processed' means something good I hope.

Buffalo...

.I have dealt with Buffalo for much of the last 19 years.They made mistakes on just about every award letter I got , not to mention a CUE claim I had there, they sat on from 2004 to 2010, and said it was set for BVA transfer in 2010 then I added it to my Nehmer AO IHD death claim and told the Nehmer VARO in Philadelphia it had impact on their decision on the AO matter and they should adjudicate it.

They did and awarded it. Within weeks, after Buffalo spent 6 years with ridiculous rhetoric to me to deny it with.

Of course all past denials I had from this RO , I certainly I appealed and succeeded on.

I actually had to contact the Office of General Counsel in 2010 because they were refusing to pay me an FTCA offset.

This was a very unusual situation .....the only retro offset under FTCA I know of

but I sent them the exact regulations they needed and all pertinent evidence.

After I complained to the OGC, the OGC ordered them to pay me and they did right away..

IRIS can also be used to file a complaint (they have a complaint area on the Iris site) and I have found that,over the years, after frustrating attempts via regular IRIS to get a factual response that made sense from Buffalo , the complaint type of IRIS often gets far better results.