Wanting To File For Iu & Ssdi, Dont Know Whicch I Should File First

[CoastieAirman96]

Hello fellow vets! Back in 2008 I filed for ssdi after having filed my first c&p claim (2007) and was denied the ssdi, I feel due to my first open claim for c&p award came in 2008 for only primary SC condt--10% rating of TBI w/residuals, secondary SC condt--0% for depression, wasnt enuff for ssdi to be awarded to me. In 2009, I appealed both c&p (2008) award and ssdi (2008) denial and I was once again denied ssdi in 2009 for a 2nd time but was awarded an increase in SC Disb & Comp:

2007 Combined rating 10% increased in 2010 to a Combined rating of 80%

Primary SC Condt: TBI w/residuals (too many to name) frm 10% to 70%

Sec SC Condt: Depression 0% to 30% for TBI w/ residuals of Depression, Insomnia & more.

My question is, based on the info I provided alone, do I have a better shot at being awarded ssdi if I reapply/appeal it for a 3rd time now or do I hv a stronger shot at being granted IU my 1st time applying?

Thanks for your service!

Semper Paratus

Brian

[notapb1]

I have been told that they are two different animals so it really doesn't matter. BUT and there's always a but with the VA if you are granted SSDI based on the same claim for IU your chances increase. I was 70% PTSD and 10 % for Diabetes. I was granted SSDI based on my mental situation that included PTSD. I was recently received IU Total and Permanent with no further examinations. Hope I didn't confuse you more.

Edited June 20, 2015 by notapb1

[Guest]

Really not sure where this post have been but remember SSDI is time limited. Meaning you must have a certain amount of credit hours and you must still meet the covered insurance. So basically file as soon as you can and when they deny your claim get a lawyer.

[Gastone]

Generally speaking, SSDI is easier to get awarded than VA IU. There are plenty of posts here and elsewhere dealing with the difference. Seems like most Vets get SSDI and then think VA IU is a lock, it's not. SSDI is an all Medical conditions considered disability award. If you've been turned down a couple of times, without Legal Representation at the appeal hearing, time to lawyer up, think. I once read, I think on VAWATCHDOG.org, that SSDI was described as an all or nothing Award, where as VA SC was described as a stage rating because of the % of a conditions disability awarded.

Keep in mind, your VA SC compensation really has nothing to do with your Income or ability to work, You could have multiple SCs, be 100% SC Scheduler and still get paid the 100% Comp Rate all the while continuing to have personal earned income in the 6 figures.

By VA Rules, Regulations and qualifications, are you IU? You may think so, but the VA Rater has to be convinced. Are you currently out of work due solely to your VA SC conditions? Do you have a college degree? Do you have any type of verification that you are unable to do any type of "Sedentary" work on a regular basis that would provide a Substantially Gainful Income, $238.00 per week, $12,400 per year under 65?

Semper Fi

Gastone

[broncovet]

From a purely practical matter, it seems filing for SSDI before TDIU with VA makes sense. The reason is you are much more likely to get SSDI faster than TDIU, and most Veterans dont particularly like becoming homeless while VA takes 10 years or more deciding on (including appeals) TDIU as the VA has with my TDIU.

However, again from a practical viewpoint, I think you should apply for SSDI today, and TDIU on Monday, as both are independent and both have an "effective date" (which SSDI calls the "onset date"), and it is in your best interest to apply for both as soon as possible.

When you do get SSDI, many Vets use that award as evidence that VA should also grant TDIU.

[Berta]

SSDI often awards for one prime disability.

In 1993 they awarded my husband for a NSC stroke ( NSC at that time, awarded under 1151 due to CUE in 2010)

He had listed both the stroke as well as his 30% SC PTSD in the SSA disability form.

After the award came I called SSA asking them how they rated his PTSD. The award was solely for the stroke.

The woman told me they did not consider the PTSD at all,I guess because the stroke was so catastrophic.

I went over to the Corning SSA office and asked the, by a priopr pjhopne call, if I could read their SSA regulations for disability. They said OK but they would not help me find what I needed and I was there there for hours before I found a regulation that states,words to the affect that Every disability would be considered in SSDI applications.

I was allowed to Xerox the page of their enourmous disability manual and we prepared a Request for Consideration (which SSA tried to talk my husband out of doing, even suggesting this could cause a loss of the stroke award)

My jhusband seemd a little intimidated by that but I sure wasnt.

Result Reconsideration requetst filed, and a few months later SSDI solely for PTSD.

By refusing to even attempt to get the SSA records, the VA strung this out for his request for higher PTSD rating , and the PTSD 100% SC P & T award didnt come until almost 3 years after he died, as an accrued benefit.

And only after I went to see his VA shrink, at the VACM , after they first denied the claim, as accrued, did the VA acknowledge his actual PTSD records.

I dont know if that info will help anyone.here But maybe it could .

We made an appointment with a SSA lawyer right after the Recon Request was filed and he told us the request didnt stand a chance.and would not support it.

I never accept negativity. I called him up a few months later and told him he missed getting thousands of bucks as a fee, if he had helped us as the PTSD award had a better EED from SSA than the CVA stroke did.

We had quite a talk and he said he would never look at a PTSD SSA Claim the same way again.

I know, I mention my husband a lot here....he had, and then I had ,as his survivor just about every problem you could imagine, with the VA.

I still remember what he would say, that there must be a big billboard across from our RO that says F--- with Rod Simmons.

He never dreamed they would put my name on that billboard after he died, and even his daughter's name too, in her only claim since becoming a vet,.because VA Edu (an oxymoron sometimes)under DEA forgot to consider her 7 years of military service, extending her Chap 35 for 7 years., but they fixed that error fast.

There is NO Billboard.of course but it still brteaks my heart knowing he should still be alive and would be with proper VA health care and not a single thing in his experience with VA went smooth except for his first visit to Newark VA in 1983.

Not really smooth...he went in for a small business loan but that very same day, do due a incident with the loan officer, the Chief of psychiatry was called in, interviewed Rod by pretending to not be a shrink, and was astonished that Rod revealed details of a 'volunteer ' job a few Marines had to do, in Vietnam and this same doctor was in country Vietnam, treating some of them for the immediate affects of what they had to do.Horrible...the doc verified this stressor because know one knew the details Rod gave except the Marines who did the job, Command, and himself, as an eye witness..

[bassrunnin1]

I don't know if this helps or not, but I filed my SC and then later filed for SSDI. When I got my SC 70% I faxed that over to the SSDI rep who was working my case. He tried to say that it didn't matter, but I totally think that it did. After about a month I got my SSDI approved. Once my SSDI approved I uploaded the approval letter to Ebennies and the next thing I know it goes to Gathering Evidence to get info from SSDI. took about a week and then a week later got the TDUI approved. It's almost as if you have to use the one to get the other to make it easier process...it's like playing one against the other to get what you want....jmo