Dav Comments On Expedited Claim

[green]

I went to talk to the local DAV rep yesterday as I wanted to know how best to address the award date errors in the VA electronic systems. I explained to him that after calling the DAV 5 times and never receiving a call back I decided to pursue an expedited claim myself and submit it through Ebenefits. This guy told me a few things I wanted to run past the community to find out if they are true or BS.

• First he told me that I shouldn't have used Ebenefits but should have rather brought the claim to him so that he could put it in a DAV envelope and sent it to the Regional Office via courier.
• He said that anything the DAV submits is considered an expedited claim and will go through the system as fast as a veteran using Ebenefits.
• He said that as the DAV is checked as my service organization the first thing the Regional Office will do is send my claim file to the DAV for review which they will do and then send it back to the Regional Office (he said this will take extra time and slow down the process and that had I brought my file to them first the time delay would not be an issue).

Is any of this true?

Thank you,

Green

[Buck52]

Great advise from jbasser!

.............Buck

[rootbeer22]

green

Who knows, maybe what the DAV is telling you is accurate but when I worked with the American Legion VSO, the opposite was true in terms of expediting my claim or improving my chances via the FDC process? For instance, early on in the process, I learned that all VSO's just like C&P Doctors and Nurses that you'll deal with are not all created equally? However, Docs and Nurses have to be certified and VSOs don't? Anyway, I got the same kind of advice after a handful of meetings with my AML VSO Rep and when I turned in my package to her, it sat on her desk for 4 days with no action? Apparently, two large SMR notebooks (highly organized, tabbed & categorized) of my medical records did not fit neatly into her pre-made envelope? So, as a result, on day 5, I took them back an FED-Exd them myself to the VBA Regional Office. So, after months of further claims advice from the AML VSO that was not always accurate, I decided to take charge of my own destiny and cancelled my POA with the American Legion VSO. Finally, what really struck me what the she was not up to date on the latest FDC issues or trends and was more of an "input clerk"? Frankly, "if being a VSO is your craft and helping Vets your stated mission, then you should educate yourself to that end?" But like others on this board have said many times before, "YOU ARE RESPOSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN CLAIM" and anything else is just hit and miss? Mainly, if you can read and use this board effectively, there's just about everything and everyone here you need to get your claim organized, submitted and adjudicated? That is all the way up until or if you need an attorney during the major appeals process with VBA? But even that's a decision that should be well thought out and make sure your read and understand anything that has to do with money and funding to the attorney. Frankly, at least for me...taking charge of ones claim and destiny means much more work but at least you'll have a better idea of what's going on with you claim instead of playing phone tag with someone that may or may not respond in a timely manner? For me, the hardest part of the entire disability process is having "patience" and if nothing else, I've had to learn it --over and over again! This is an emotional roller-coaster ride and without my Hadit.Com buddies to guide me...would have been much more difficult to deal with...good luck and godspeed...rootbeer22..

[green]

*Update*

I submitted a request for information using IRIS. I received an email telling me "You can contact the VA Benefits Office at 1-800-827-1000, options 1,0,4 and a representative can assist you", which I did.

After multiple calls I finally got a person on the line who directed me to write a letter asking for the VSO to be removed and told me to send it to the following address:

Department of Veterans Administration

Claims Intake Center

P.O. Box 5235

Janesville, WI, 53547

Or FAX to 1-844-822-5246

I hope this will help others who have come to the same conclusion. I plan on sending the mail signed receipt required. Hopefully I'll have better luck than Notorious Kelly.

Green

Edited July 29, 2015 by green

[zeelarry]

Bottomline, all claim information and additional paperwork has to be scanned at one of the Claims Intake Centers. If something is mailed to the Regional Office, they open the envelopes and mail them to their Intake Center for scanning. If you give anything to a VSO, they may hand carry it to the RO, which in turn gets sent to the the Intake Center for scanning [A DELAY!!!!!] I was told this by the local RO's Rep last year. JUST REMEMBER, to ALWAYS make sure your NAME & C-file # is on ALL PAPERS!!!!!!

If you submit forms or paperwork via eBenefits, it goes directly to the Intake Center. [i added a lab test to my claim last night, via eBenefits, and it is shown as being in the system as of today]. If you fax anything to the Intake Center, it appears on eBenefits within a day or two.

[green]

The person I spoke with told me that all scanning is now performed at the Janesville, WI Intake Center and then sent to the appropriate Regional Office, guessing the appropriate RO is where your C-File is located.

[pwrslm]

Can you imagine the logistics of that mess?

Hundreds of thousands of claims, some of them contain thousands of pages, shipped to Wisconsin, and scanned by hand into a computer...then reassembled and returned to origin?