All Veterans, Filing A Nod At The Last Minute.

[pacmanx1]

I just want to inform all veterans that filing a NOD at the last minute may hurt your claim. It seems to me that more and more VAROs are taking more then 21 days to get new correspondence in the VA system. I have seem that it is taking 60 to 90 days to get new evidence logged in. I know it takes time to get evidence to support your claims but don't wait. Lots of veterans are getting denial letters when they have submitted new evidence that seem to be lost in the mail or in the system.

Hope this helps.

[ArNG11]

In my case, the RO is trying to say that the date they stamped the green return receipt card was the date the NOD was filed, not the postmark date per the CFR. I'd be all done if I hadn't sent it certified mail from the mail counter with a hand stamped postmark on the certified mail receipt itself along with the cash register slip. We're in the midst of getting this straighted out now.

curious did you cut it that close? was the post mark your expiration date for the NOD? To my knowledge they are to go by the post mark date. With evidence or any forms with suspense dates it is absolutely imperative that you send it certified, return receipt requested. They pull that crap all the time on so many people to include myself. It took me once to learn that lesson. It costs a little bit, however, it is a small price to pay to nail that crap they try to pull to the floor.

My suggestion is if you haven't done so already is to send them a copy of the return receipt along with the excerpt of the regulation, that will piss them off, however, it is the regulation, they can go suck an egg.

[john999]

I would just never cut it that close on filing a NOD. If you are asking them to reconsider your claim don't wait for less than a month to file the NOD. I may have lost a few hundred thousand bucks for not filing a NOD on time and letting a claim become final. This was long ago and far away in a distant galaxy but it still affects me today.

[TiredCoastie]

curious did you cut it that close? was the post mark your expiration date for the NOD? To my knowledge they are to go by the post mark date. With evidence or any forms with suspense dates it is absolutely imperative that you send it certified, return receipt requested. They pull that crap all the time on so many people to include myself. It took me once to learn that lesson. It costs a little bit, however, it is a small price to pay to nail that crap they try to pull to the floor.

My suggestion is if you haven't done so already is to send them a copy of the return receipt along with the excerpt of the regulation, that will piss them off, however, it is the regulation, they can go suck an egg.

I would just never cut it that close on filing a NOD. If you are asking them to reconsider your claim don't wait for less than a month to file the NOD. I may have lost a few hundred thousand bucks for not filing a NOD on time and letting a claim become final. This was long ago and far away in a distant galaxy but it still affects me today.

You both are quite wise. I wish I hadn't sent it that late - it was on the deadline. Between my SC conditions, Christmas, and an ongoing family crisis at the time, I simply ran out of time. I'd been trying to get to it for months. Also, however, I was hoping against the odds that the "reconsideration claim" I was talked into submitting would come through at the last minute. So I felt that I was trapped into having to submit the NOD in order to save the original claim date. In hindsight, I would have submitted a NOD rather than that other claim. But given the situation as it stood this past fall, I would have submitted it a couple of weeks before Christmas if I had to do over again.

At least I listened to some of the great advice here. The package was sent certified mail, return receipt requested. So I do have ample evidence that the NOD was submitted on time. And I've submitted this proof twice now. The NOD was lost somewhere in the system and in mid-March, learned through IRIS that it was never received. So I sent the NOD again with the proof of postmark. Then, earlier this month, I got a letter responding to one of the submissions (original one or the one in March, don't know which one). The RO claimed I'd submitted a statement in support of a claim rather than a NOD and that it was late anyway as "officially" logged in as received about two weeks after the deadline. "No, no, no!" I responded immediately and in writing (also sent certified mail....yeah, it costs a few bucks but it's like insurance). I pointed out that I had filed a NOD and even used the new version of the NOD form, sending them yet another copy. And I gave them another copy of my hand postmarked certified receipt while quoting 38 CFR 20.302(a) and 38 CFR 20.305(a) about the use of the postmark as the date filed (thanks again to a number of hadit folks who helped me quickly put together a response).

Edited May 30, 2014 by TiredCoastie

[ArNG11]

I had one misreading of the decision date and award date in my case. I was off by a couple of weeks but I caught the error in time. My second delay was trying to get my IMO/IME worked out. I am confident on my mailing however, certified return receipt requested. As I have the stamped receipt for proof they received it in time and the IME report will be sent this week. I know all too well of the distractions of life, they can cost you big time if you are not careful.

IRIS inquiries can be quite helpful, it's an electronic record that can be referenced when need be.

The VA is hating life right now. With all the inquiries and heads rolling they are going to be watching more carefully the crap they try to pull. Also Veterans are getting much wiser and are more serious of an adversary with technology, support sites and forums like Hadit. Knowledge is power. The willingness to fight to the end is another key.

Fight till your last breath!