Back Pay Calculation...

[veteran7796]

Good Morning To All,

This is my first post on this site. Although, I have looked at it many times over the years for advice and information and it has been more than helpful. So, thanks for all the help in advance.

Here is my timeline...

5/31/2011 -Initial Claim for Compensation (Cervical Neck)

10/12/2012 -Amended Claim to include GERD, Chronic Sinusitis

6/13/2013 -Awarded 30% for GERD (Effective Date of 10/12/2012) and awarded 0% SC for Neck and Sinusitis.

8/9/2013 -Filed FOIA/Privacy Act Request for service records to appeal the neck rating (This claim NEVER moved and is STILL sitting in CLAIM RECEIVED). So....to take action before the 1 year deadline I did the following:

4/13/2014 - Filed for Increase on 0% SC neck injury and 0% Sinusitis

6/2/2014 - C&P Exam for Neck

July 2014 - My claim was bouncing ALL over the place. ROE to PFD back to ROE back to PDA and now back to ROE....then it just stopped and has stopped for the last 2 weeks.

So, last week my VSO called me and said my claim for increase is still in Review of Evidence, however, notes on the case showed that Sinusitis was denied and will remain at 0%. Notes for the neck injury are as follows:

- Increase for neck injury granted and approved from 0% to 10% with an effective date of 5/31/2011

- "Clear and Unmistakeable Error". Initial C&P exam in 2012 showed rating should have been listed at 10% (which I already knew and is why I wanted to appeal the decision).

Under this scenario he said I should receive back pay at 10% from 5/31/2011 to October 2012 and then the difference between 30% and 40% from October 2012 to Present once they get it all signed. I do have custody of my three sons who live with me and no spouse so I get dependent rate.

Any idea how to calculate the back pay correctly before I get numbers in my head that arent remotely accurate? Hope I didnt confuse anyone.

[veteran7796]

Navy Wife,

That first line you said is the exact thing Im worried about...except in the other direction. They have already put into notes that they made a CUE and it is granted. However, Im VERY worried that they are going to review the evidence and decide they DIDNT make a CUE and I get nothing. That would just be a terrible thing for my current state of affairs.

[veteran7796]

So, I submitted an IRIS inquiry in the middle of last week to get a somewhat detailed status on my claim given the conflicting data between e-bennies, the VA 1-800# rep and what my VSO said.

Will IRIS provide me any further information about my claim than what the 1-800# people do?

[veteran7796]

Update:

So, I worked some inside magic from a friend and spoke to a rater at a VA RO from another state who deals directly with disability claims...they looked up my case for me.

Anyhow, a decision HAS been made on my case and was rated over two weeks ago for my increase. Neck has gone 0-10% and is dated effective back to 5/31/2011 due to a CUE. I WILL get retro back to that date for 10% up to October 2012 and then the difference between 30-40% w/ dependents from October 2012 to present.

The problem is the case is just sitting there in ROE. The rater said that my claim is only waiting to be "promulgated" (signed and paid) and nothing is actually being reviewed. According to the rater, per VA policy they only have X amount of working days to complete (promulgate) the claim once it is rated not to exceed 15 days (may have been 5 working days, cant remember).

At any rate, the rater said Waco is hands down one of the worst and is referred to as (Whacko) by the rest of the VA. They did take over 2 1/2 years to complete my initial claim for 3 contentions. But, from the raters perspective, they merely stuck my case in ROE to give it a status so they can "deal with it later" and that it is "totally unacceptable", In addition the rater sais that its a very fast process from this point so they have "no idea" why Waco hasnt just finished it.

Now, all this information is new to me in terms of "working days" to finalize a claim after it has been rated. But, if this is the case, it's pretty upsetting that they can just "sign it and pay me", yet they are just letting it sit there.

[killemall]

Sounds like a win win to me

[veteran7796]

Back to Prep for Decision on Friday afternoon. This happened on my initial claim too. Once I made a call, miraculously my status changed on e-benefits. You have to wonder if they do it just to shut you up. But, hey, I'll take any movement.

[carlie]

Good Morning To All,

This is my first post on this site. Although, I have looked at it many times over the years for advice and information and it has been more than helpful. So, thanks for all the help in advance.

Here is my timeline...

5/31/2011 -Initial Claim for Compensation (Cervical Neck)

10/12/2012 -Amended Claim to include GERD, Chronic Sinusitis

6/13/2013 -Awarded 30% for GERD (Effective Date of 10/12/2012) and awarded 0% SC for Neck and Sinusitis.

8/9/2013 -Filed FOIA/Privacy Act Request for service records to appeal the neck rating (This claim NEVER moved and is STILL sitting in CLAIM RECEIVED). So....to take action before the 1 year deadline I did the following:

4/13/2014 - Filed for Increase on 0% SC neck injury and 0% Sinusitis

6/2/2014 - C&P Exam for Neck

July 2014 - My claim was bouncing ALL over the place. ROE to PFD back to ROE back to PDA and now back to ROE....then it just stopped and has stopped for the last 2 weeks.

So, last week my VSO called me and said my claim for increase is still in Review of Evidence, however, notes on the case showed that Sinusitis was denied and will remain at 0%. Notes for the neck injury are as follows:

- Increase for neck injury granted and approved from 0% to 10% with an effective date of 5/31/2011

- "Clear and Unmistakeable Error". Initial C&P exam in 2012 showed rating should have been listed at 10% (which I already knew and is why I wanted to appeal the decision).

Something above does not sound correct.

Increase in comp for neck effective date 5/31/2011, C&P exam in 2012 showed it should be 10 %.

Are the dates above wrong or am I confused ?

carlie

Under this scenario he said I should receive back pay at 10% from 5/31/2011 to October 2012 and then the difference between 30% and 40% from October 2012 to Present once they get it all signed. I do have custody of my three sons who live with me and no spouse so I get dependent rate.

Any idea how to calculate the back pay correctly before I get numbers in my head that arent remotely accurate? Hope I didnt confuse anyone.