Jump to content

Ask Your VA Claims Questions | Read Current Posts 
Read VA Disability Claims Articles
Search | View All Forums | Donate | Blogs | New Users | Rules 

  • tbirds-va-claims-struggle (1).png

  • 01-2024-stay-online-donate-banner.png

     

Dro Hearing 6/27/14 Tdiu Smc K Granted T& P

Rate this topic


Gastone

Recommended Posts

Opted for "informal DRO Hearing." No tape recording or transcription. DRO said we could go on record., record and transcription, at any time that I chose to do so. After approximately 30+ min. of back and forth, the DRO said he was granting my main NOD issue from 2010. And because we were doing an informal hearing, he would also address my TDIU NOD filed in 10/2011, if I was prepared to do so.

I was, we did, I won! The DRO awarded TDIU back to my original PTSD filing date. Hearing was completed by 9:50am. My VSO called at 3:30 same day, to advise me, he already had the DRO Award Letter on his desk.

It took a couple years to get my original NOD Hearing, but the wait was worth it. The work I did preparing, gave me the confidence to represent myself at the hearing. Saved me 20% of retro, for legal representation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats and Great News Bud! I always tell Vets to get all needed evidence together and try to win on their own. My VSO told me last year that I would not get 100%, as I was medically retired last year at 80% VA. In less than 7 months I was granted 100% Schedular VA and SSDI approved in less than 10 weeks, and I did not have to pay some greedy lawyer. God Bless and keep us posted.

100% PTSD

100% Back

60% Bladder Issues

50% Migraines 
30% Crohn's Disease

30% R Shoulder

20% Radiculopathy, Left lower    10% Radiculopathy, Right lower 
10% L Knee  10% R Knee Surgery 2005&2007
10% Asthma
10% Tinnitus
10% Damage of Cranial Nerve II

10% Scars

SMC S

SMC K

OEF/OIF VET     100% VA P&T, Post 911 Caregiver, SSDI

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • HadIt.com Elder

I think the time to get a lawyer is when you feel you need one. If you are looking at a difficult claim that includes hundreds of thousands of bucks in retro 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I have been there with a CUE claim that involved issues I did not fully understand. When you get to the BVA on a CUE if there is one obviously questionable part of your claim it is almost instantly denied. These BVA judges assume 99% of vets do not understand CUE, so you get a denial on the standard denial options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Tell a friend

    Love HadIt.com’s VA Disability Community Vets helping Vets since 1997? Tell a friend!
  • Recent Achievements

    • spazbototto earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Paul Gretza earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Troy Spurlock went up a rank
      Community Regular
    • KMac1181 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • jERRYMCK earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Our picks

    • These decisions have made a big impact on how VA disability claims are handled, giving veterans more chances to get benefits and clearing up important issues.

      Service Connection

      Frost v. Shulkin (2017)
      This case established that for secondary service connection claims, the primary service-connected disability does not need to be service-connected or diagnosed at the time the secondary condition is incurred 1. This allows veterans to potentially receive secondary service connection for conditions that developed before their primary condition was officially service-connected. 

      Saunders v. Wilkie (2018)
      The Federal Circuit ruled that pain alone, without an accompanying diagnosed condition, can constitute a disability for VA compensation purposes if it results in functional impairment 1. This overturned previous precedent that required an underlying pathology for pain to be considered a disability.

      Effective Dates

      Martinez v. McDonough (2023)
      This case dealt with the denial of an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) 2. It addressed issues around the validity of appeal withdrawals and the consideration of cognitive impairment in such decisions.

      Rating Issues

      Continue Reading on HadIt.com
      • 0 replies
    • I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful.  We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did.  He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims.  He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file.  It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to  1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015.  It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me.  He didn't want my copies.  Anyone have any information on this.  Much thanks in advance.  
      • 4 replies
    • Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
      Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL

      This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:

      Current Diagnosis.   (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)

      In-Service Event or Aggravation.
      Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
      • 0 replies
    • Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability rating 
    • VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their  ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.  

      They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.  

      This is not true, 

      Proof:  

          About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because  when they cant work, they can not keep their home.  I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason:  "Its been too long since military service".  This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA.  And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time,  mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends. 

          Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly.  The VA is broken. 

          A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals.  I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision.  All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did. 

          I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt".   Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day?  Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.   
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use