Preparation For Desicion, Going On Week 4!

[Scout Swimmer]

I was told that this phase goes very quickly. This is going on week 4 and I'm getting anxious! Is the time frame normal for this phase? Is this a positive/ negative thing? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Its driving me bonkers.

[Loose Cannon]

Keep fighting. So sorry to hear the news.

LC

[GlassRose1500]

Sorry to hear about it, Phil. Hope your DAV Rep or the decision itself gives you something to work with.

GR

[USAFSP79]

My claim has been in the "prep for decision" phase since 26 July 13 in the St Paul RO. No word yet so I called Peggy...last week and this week. The folks I talked to seemed to be very helpful and answered all of my questions. I keep checking ebenefits, my bank account etc. Peggy told me that my claim had been "moved to a different lane" twice in two weeks in December. Something that neither ebenefits, my VSO or DAV rep could tell me. Peggy stated that I should do an Inquiry (IRIS I assume?), since it should have not taken this long in that phase. My question is this: Is this a good sign or bad? Thanks for any help and/or comments. In the defense of the St Paul RO; it is my understanding that they are near the tops in the country for completion of claims. Approved or denied, I don't know. But since we are dealing with the government, we all know what the reward is for doing good work.....MORE WORK! St Paul RO has been given some of the backlog from other regions of the VA to complete. I wish them luck and my hat is off to them, but I hope this doesn't put them further behind.

[Loose Cannon]

My claim has been in the "prep for decision" phase since 26 July 13 in the St Paul RO. No word yet so I called Peggy...last week and this week. The folks I talked to seemed to be very helpful and answered all of my questions. I keep checking ebenefits, my bank account etc. Peggy told me that my claim had been "moved to a different lane" twice in two weeks in December. Something that neither ebenefits, my VSO or DAV rep could tell me. Peggy stated that I should do an Inquiry (IRIS I assume?), since it should have not taken this long in that phase. My question is this: Is this a good sign or bad? Thanks for any help and/or comments. In the defense of the St Paul RO; it is my understanding that they are near the tops in the country for completion of claims. Approved or denied, I don't know. But since we are dealing with the government, we all know what the reward is for doing good work.....MORE WORK! St Paul RO has been given some of the backlog from other regions of the VA to complete. I wish them luck and my hat is off to them, but I hope this doesn't put them further behind.

I hear you but ACCURACY is what counts, not how many claims an RO can produce. At least your claim is at the prep for decision stage. My retro claim was submitted in Oct 2012...hasn't moved from "claim received" yet! And we can't forget the lady who lost her husband due to Agent Orange and has been waiting 23 years for the VA to pay her DIC. Yes, that's right 23 years!!!

Just goes to show you that no matter how bad you got it...someone's got it worse. Hope you hear something soon.

LC

[aggie54]

USAFSP79

I was in the same boat, in the Preparation for Decision stage for a couple of months, then I did an IRIS Inquiry, and a few days later I was in the Pending Decision Approval, and have been there over a month now.

Mine is a Dependency Claim which has been on going for a couple of years now.Hopefully you'll get an answer soon, and not sent back another stage like me.

Good Luck

Aggie

[USAFSP79]

I think the most frustrating thing is the "self frustration". I seem to miss more and more work because of these issues. My paycheck gets smaller and I have to decide what bills get paid this week and don't. If it wasn't for my FMLA claim, I could possibly be "let go". My wife is more frustrated then me with this whole process and the missing work issue; maybe since she wasn't in the service, she doesn't understand. When I try to explain,, she shakes her head in disbelief. My three sons have/are serving and they tell her the same thing. Just venting here.....