Moved Where Do I Send My Nod

[vt4spd]

Guys need a little help on where to send my NOD. I filed a claim in Jan 13' while I was living in New Mexico. I Moved to California OCT 14 and received a denial Dec 14' Im wondering if I should send my NOD to the Regional Office here in California or back to New Mexico? Also should I send my additional evidence win with my NOD or wait until I get a response from the regional office? Thanks

[USMC_VET]

this is me talking a bit without being fully sure, but i believe you can file from VA From 20 572 which is the change of address and that should switch your regions. you will always want to do this whenever you move. also change it in ebenefits and register with the local hospital. the health side and the comp side dont talk in this regard, so if you update health comp wont know and vice versa. Then i would personally file the NOD with the old region but make sure you spell out that you have moved and wish for the appeal to be handled in your new region. attach the from 20572 (copy of it) and do all the appropriate stuff like keep copies of the NOD, mail certified/return receipt all that. so if there are any snafus and they try to do the "we never got it" you have it there.

I had the same thing.

My initial claim was in state A, my last claim was in State B, i moved to state C in the middle of the claim but actually was still being handled at State A!!! where i hadnt lived for 3 years. so in the end it took longer for the VA to figure it all out. this will probably result in more time costing snafus as they will set dro hearings, etc in your old state. they actually sent me a letter that arrived jun 3rd letting me know my hearing was on June 5 in a state over a thousand miles away, which of course i couldnt go to....

[vt4spd]

Thanks for the reply! I Need to double check this after work but I'm fairly certain I did file the official change of address all the official correspondence has been addressed to me at my new residence and it reads California on my Ebenefits profile. I had actually thought about hand carrying my NOD to the Regional office as Ill be in the area next week anyways?\

[USMC_VET]

I would do that and...

I would hand carry the evidence and hand it in to one of the people there ask for notarized copies of the evidence submitted. if you have a bunch they may say "im not notarizing all of this i will do X pages"

so thats why you should have a evidence list noting what you have.

Ie.

Dr. Smith exam dated 10/12/2014, ABC hospital/clinic, 2 pages

outlines visit where it is noted i have asthma and have inhalers currently prescribed.

etc etc.

make sure they notarize that one specifically

also still send it to the claims intake center CERTIFIED AND RETURN RECEIPT, this gives you bulletproof evidence that YOU SENT IT in the approved time and that THEY RECEIVED IT.

this is gone over in more detail in the thread that is in my signature line.

[vt4spd]

Thanks USMC_VET. This is my first claim and I'm forced to handle all the paper work myself. I walked into the VSO closest one was in Bakersfield, CA only to be treated like a piece of trash. The VSO was trying to convince me to reopen my claim with new and material evidence stating that if I didn't I would have to wait 7 years to hear anything back, he also looked over my nexus and scoffed stating that my doctor was just "going along with the fact I had PTSD". It wasn't until I got home that I found out if I reopen the claim I would lose almost 2 years back pay by not filing the NOD. I'm thankful that there are people out there willing to help.

[USMC_VET]

As the great ASKNOD has stated the VSO's you see are there because they are a charterd organization with the VA, as part of the charter "A VSO's charter is conditioned on aiding and assisting VA in the claims procedure... "

Not to disparage and generalize, i have met many VSO's that are great, work hard and want whats best for you. however i have met many that just do stuff like you said. what you VSO said was a lie. they lied by saying it would take 7 years, etc. and more importantly they lied by leaving out that portion where you lose 2+ years of retro.

A good VSO would sit you down and say "You have two choices, you can take the decision and reopen the claim, in my opinion if you want this decided sooner that would be the better option. However that leads to the second option, if you file a NOD it may take longer and in some cases if this goes to BVA then Veterans Court it could take years, its just how it goes. The first option may be faster based on my experience however you would lose all the retro payments from the past 2 years, if you want the decision sooner and would rather have that then the retro then we can do that. Its up to you"

Thats what they should say. however reopening a claim is also easier for them.

-Have you signed a Power of Attorney designation for that VSO? ie for VFW, DAV, Legion?

If so i would revoke your POA for that VSO and get another one. you can see how to

You can also look for a new VSo from a different organization and if you go with them and sign the POA, the previous one no longer exists. Either way get rid of them. You can go alone as well.

i would go through the and make sure that all of this is covered in your NOD.

You have one year to file an NOD, and i wouldnt file it until you have all the new evidence you want to submit. I would request that you get a DRO hearing etc. you will present your case their but DO NOT hold on to evidence for the hearing, send it all in and make sure that is is properly documented that you sent it in.

So start doing the leg work, go and get IMO/IME, get lay statements, gather VA exam notes, etc. get all of this and send it in. You are a ways away from any real happy ending, its the nature of the beast, but do all the right things and play their game and often it works out.

[vt4spd]

Again the help and response is much appreciated. So the story goes.... Originally I had contacted the Bakersfield DAV for assistance, they never picked up their phones and when I finally did get ahold of them they had me fill out a POA and send in my denial info. I noticed on my eBenefits they did file the POA, so when I called to follow up rand into the same issue...never picked up the Phone or returned my messages/emails. Next I contacted Kern County Veterans Service Department they did answer their phones and I set up an appointment, the VSO I initially met with didn't even review my evidence or address any of the questions I had he simply said I need "IMO/nexus" letters. I did the leg work and had my doctors write them for me and scheduled a follow up, and ended up driving two hours to get assistance.

That's what I posted above. I have had positive experiences with a couple VSO's but decided to do what you recommended and go it alone. I retained an attorney and sent in paperwork a few weeks ago for him to represent me at the DVA board however if I can get a favorable rating via de novo review I wont have to give up any of my back pay. I figured I would try this route first and if I wasn't successful then I would still have the attorney?