Dro Question

[scoutitout19d]

I chose to go with a DRO de novo review. I received my SOC Jan 5th denied for IU but it says I was granted 100% rating from my 70% rating. I called the 800 number and I was told that even though the decision has been made the rating and retro pay will not go into affect until after 60 days.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

I think it's kind of shitty how they can make the decision but I have to wait 2 more months to see a change in my monthly pay as well as overall rating.

Other veterans and my attorney both told me that I should expect to see it any day but Peggy says otherwise.

I wanted to add I noticed a lot of vets who went to dro hearings left knowing their award and retro amount, I did not have a hearing in my case it was simple just reviewed and decided without my knowing. Nothing has been updated I would recommend requesting a hearing for the purpose of leaving with knowing instead of wondering.

Edited January 12, 2015 by scoutitout19d

[Philip Rogers]

First off, don't believe anything "Peggy" says!!! She's almost never correct. Her job is to get you off the phone as quickly as possible and say anything to do it! jmo

You'll probably hear something sooner but in the meantime, you can continue to bitch, if it makes you feel better. Again, jmo ;-)

pr

[scoutitout19d]

If only that worked.

[Buck52]

I think it depends on how much retro pay your going to get maybe the reason for the 60 days? you should get a notification letter explaining what all they did and your benefits ect,,ect,, check your bank account everyday!

[Gastone]

06/27/14 DRO Hearing. Decided on Informal Hearing. Got both the scheduled 2010 NOD issues awarded but also 2012 IU NOD. DRO told me he was awarding everything but would have to do further review to determine Retro Award effective dates.I had no problem with that, the IU Award being cleared when I thought I probably had at least another year or so to go for the NOD Hearing, made my day. I left his office at about 9:45am and my VSO-Rep called me that afternoon around 3:30 to tell me he had the DRO Official Decision granting everything and a T & P rating. The Retro Dates were right in line with what I thought so I was good to go. Got the Retro $$$$'s direct deposit around 07/23 and received the Big Brown Envelope a day or 2 later.

It appears from your post that you didn't request a DRO Personal Hearing, right? That is what I believe to be the problem. After my DRO Experience, I think the face to face is the only way to go. We sat there and talked about my claims like a couple guys out for a beer. He said that due to my deciding to have an "Informal Hearing" he was going to address my 2012 NOD even though it wasn't scheduled. Great for me. Had I not been there and only requested a DRO Review of my 2010 NOD, would the results have been the same? Don't think so.

As to your 70 to 100%, good for you. Only problem would be if it's a PTSD rating. Tough to get a P & T for something the VA thinks could improve with treatment sometime in the future. Good Luck.

Semper Fi

Gastone

[scoutitout19d]

Gastone, as I spoke with my lawyer it was to my understanding that we requested an informal hearing. I don't know if it was miscommunication but I never received one. Wish I would have I'm not very much for leaving success up to technology I'd rather been in person.

[TiredCoastie]

If you have eBenefits access, you might want to check under documents and "benefit verification" to see what you've been rated and when. That might have some clues for you.

You received your SOC/grant on Jan 5th, but when was it dated? Was the decision after New Years....on Jan 5th? If so, seeing as you were already paid back at the end of December, you wouldn't expect to get a regular monthly increase until sometime around Feb 1st anyway. If the decision was in December, it's hard to understand why you didn't see 100% compensation in that last payment unless it was so close to New Years that they somehow couldn't change the payment already queued up in the system. Check the grant decision and discussion carefully; there may be clues there as well.

When my effective dates were granted through the RO's review of my claim contensions, those changes happened immediately or at least it seemed that way to me.

Retro is always a problem, IMO. If you're also military retired, it may take a while to make it through DFAS and back to the RO for CRSC/CRDP determinations. It seems to come much faster if you aren't retired.