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Va Worker Told Me Im Screwing His Company?

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killemall

Question

So....

July 2014 I was bumped from 40 to 70 percent.

However I was denied sc for both knees...depression...sleep apnea and hypertension.

March 2015 I started the quick claim process for those issues plus a few others where I will be submitting more evidence once ready.

I decided that I should do a NOD for the issues that were not service connected in my July 2014 award letter since my one year window was almost closed.

The point was to make sure I could secure my back pay on those issues in the case that the va does SC some of them.

I explain why Im doing the NOD to the VA counselor and he tells me Im trying to screw his company.

I said what company?

He said the VA.

I explained that hes not a car insurance officer who is telling me that they dont wanna pay for my busted car.

I was very mad and pointed to the hearing aids ive been wearing 13 years since I was 22 and exclaimed..

Im xxxxxxx broken! Im not a car. Im a guy who did what I sighned up to do and you are here for me and not any xxxxxxx insurance company.

I then told him Ive never complained about anything in my life but I was considering going to higher about his remark of me screwing his company.

His composure changed very quickly and he filled out the NOD for me.

Whew....I was pissed off!!!!!

Anyways...is it true that a NOD can make me wait three years like he was saying?

In the past I would just do a nod within one year to show I disagreed and then submit claims for the same issues I disagreed with and a year later Id get my award and retro pay for the issues that were now service connected.

The nod was just used to lock in my origional claim date.

Has somthing changed???

Why is he saying two to three years?

Also. Can I just submit my new evidence for these decisions I disagreed with today into the quick claim process???

Or is somthing not gonna jive???

Thanks for any help and damn he pissed me off!!!!!

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1. It should be illegal or unethical for VA employees to advise you against applying for benefits of filing a NOD. Like you, I had a VA employee tell me, "Oh, you can file a NOD, but it will be a waste of time and they will look at everything else and try to reduce you, holding up the rest of your benefits". Its simply not true. The VA has a procedure for rudicing benefits, and they can/do that all the time. BUT, there has to be evidence of same. There are "reduction criteria" such as you not seeking treatment for your SC condition for an extended period, but the criteria does NOT include: "Reduce a Veteran if he seeks an increase". That malicious rumor is false, you will likely be reduced if you meet the criteria for a reduction, not because you sought an increase, or because you have purple hair. These attempts at "reducing the backlong" by strong arming Veterans into dropping their appeals/claims are very bad.

2. As far as "the NOD making you wait 2 or 3 years", unfortunately, that is true. In fact, an appeal to the BVA is more like 4 years. Right now, for the most part, VA does not process both appeals and claims to the same Veteran at the same time. This is because their is only ONE paper copy of your cfile. Your Cfile can be sitting at the BVA waiting on an appeal or in your RO, but not both at the same time. SOME Vets have had their cfile scanned in, but most of the rest of us are still on paper. Further, I doubt that, if yours is one that is scanned in, that does not mean your claim will be "pushed ahead" of Vets who are still on paper. You can kid yourself but the backlog of claims is a reality, and the VA uses any excuse to try to make your claim another one of the longer ones. If VA can delay your claim another year, that is money in their pocket. It means your benefits, if you dont die or give up on your claim first, will be paid out of next years budget. The only thing Va likes better than delaying your claim to 2016, is delaying it to 2017 or 2018. The VA has delayed me for 13 years, so far. Yes, I got some benefits, but I never did get "any" benefits, none, zip, zilch, nada, back to 2002 when I applied.

I do not agree with the first paragraph, because I have had a 40 percent rating for 12 years, and never heard squat from the va,, RIGHT AFTER applying for TDIU they went on a witch hunt, hell bent and hell bound on reducing that 40 percent 12 year rating to zero, so I couldnt qualify for TDUI because I wouldnt meet to 70 percent.. THEY ARE THAT MALICIOUS, THEY ARE THAT DIRTY, AND THEY WILL TRY TO RUN YOU OFF WITH A REDUCTION ATTEMPT..

I was asked ONE question in a CP exam regarding the 40 percent rating that was very generic in nature and they tried to use that one question, that was made by an unqualified examiner to run down a reduction.

The law states that as extensive and thourough testing must be done to reduce a conditions as was to diagnose the condition. So its not very likely that one opinion, from some unqualified, non specialist, Nurse practicioner will hold enough weight to reduce.. the bright side is, the VA is chock full of non specialist who just dont have the qualifications to go up against an expert.. So call thier bluff, make them earn every inch of ground they try to take from you.

ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS. VA REGULATION AND LAWS HEAVILY FAVOR THE VETERAN!!!! The hospitals and regional offices just dont follow the rules is why you get denied..

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  • HadIt.com Elder

I have been involved with VA for over 24 years and so far they have never caught up. As far as the VA Counselor I would recommend that you get a copy of the records that would include his comments on your visit. I suspect his records probably do not tell the truth about your meeting.

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My NODs never took more than a year????

I simply submitted a new claim and that was it???

Oh well. Looks like I may withdraw the NOD and just continue the quick claim.

Thanks for the info everyone

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Kill, you do whatever is good for you and your family. Sierra, you are right on the money bud, I was already 100% VA when I submitted my last FDC in Nov 14. Claim was in Prep for Decision for over 2 months, then in Feb 15, VA decides to move claim back to Gathering of Evidence, order a ton of C&Ps, then Review all of my High %s, even though I was not up for Review until Feb 2016. A year earlier, and those Review exams are brutal especially the PTSD review.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

I heard that the NOD's are look at as they receive them, I don't know how true this is because almost every Regional office is different.

.........Buck

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I'd say file your NOD regardless if you want local review, or want it to go straight to the BVA. Don't waste time, and take advantage of the wait to get IME/IMO's and as many ducks in a row as you can.

I'd also say that if you know the employee's name, you need to report it up the chain immediately, and it wouldn't hurt to shoot an e-mail over to the Secretary, Under Secretary and an IRIS memo with a narrative regarding the facts of what happened. If you don't know the name, nail down date, time and location of the conversation.

Just a thought.

Mark

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