Help Finding A Veteran Service Officer For Claim

[Kewldude85]

Need someone in or around Alabama been fighting and being ignored almost 2 years!!!!

[Philip Rogers]

I recommend you purchase the Veterans Benefits Manual (VBM), for about $150, from LexisNexis (http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/search/search-results.jsp?_requestid=3069)

and do the claim yourself. No one will work as hard as you. Or get a lawyer. jmo

pr

[john999]

If you need help with your claim why not hire a professional instead of some VSO who won't even remember your name. Get a lawyer or do it yourself with help from Hadit.

John

[Vync]

The one thing you must remember is that regardless what a VSO does or recommends, you are still responsible for your claims. Regardless of who you choose, VSO or lawyer, be sure to get some solid positive referrals because you might end up with a great helper or a lemon.

Getting a lawyer is great advice, but it might be helpful to do research and find out exactly why your claim is stuck and get advice as to an appropriate course of action.

Is this an initial claim?

Is this an increase?

Is this an appeal (NOD/DRO/board) of some sort?

Have you checked e-benefits (sometimes is correct) or called the sometimes lame 1-800-827-1000 number?

By having an idea of where your claim is sitting, people can help you out.

I'm in Alabama and had a few different VSO's. I'll share my experiences below.

After I got out, I tried Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs. They stuck with me and helped me get 40%. Years later, I learned that some of the recommendations they offered ended up costing me. But at the time, it was before the laws changed around 2000 and the VA was much less helpful. A few years back, I found Hadit.com and received an education I only wish I knew about back then. I switched to DAV at the Birmingham VAMC, mostly to get a second set of eyes and additional advice regarding my claims. The lady was a true expert and went over my paperwork with a fine tooth comb. Her advice was like: "omit this", "include that", "you need imaging for this", "the doctor's IMO is weak and needs to be rephrased as follows", "refer to it this way, instead of that way, because...", and so on. Thanks to the Hadit family (mostly) and my VSO, I got to 90%. Then... the lady retired. I ended up with a new person who seemed utterly clueless. I escalated my requests through the DAV folks at the Montgomery RO. The advice I got sounded really good, but ended up costing me and one of the reps was a real jackass. Because I recently moved, I decided to talk with Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs again. The gentleman was very knowledgeable and helpful, but did not go over everything, howerver he has not steered me wrong. For a recent DRO appointment, I went to the Montgomery RO and met with my VSO ahead of time. This guy was equally an expert as the DAV lady I had before. He went over everything. For the first time in a while, I actually left the RO with a good feeling. I am staying with my VSO to see how my appeal goes. They haven't steered me wrong yet.

[broncovet]

There is a problem with VSO's which is exceptionally difficult to overcome:

There are 2 general types:

1. "Good" VSO's. These are all much too busy to take new clients..the word gets around so you will have to wait months for an appointment to see him.

In the mean time you are losing money, because you have not filed yet. To see how much you will lose waiting, you can go to the compensation table, and multiply how long you have to wait by your expected rating monthly amount.

2. "not so good" VSO's. These include rookies, VSO's with a bad attitude, "burned out" VSO's, VSO's who give bad advice, those who lose paperwork, those with no training, etc... They are all readily available and will process your claim in a manner worthy of their bad reputation, along with the expected disastrous results.

Edited June 19, 2013 by broncovet

[Testvet]

life memberships do NOT get you any better service, some states and counties have service officers that are paid positions and most of these people will take their jobs seriously, ask vets in the waiting room at your treatment facility if they can recommend a VSO, if your claim has already been denied at the VARO level you may want to consider letting a attorney handle it that specializes in VA law,