Iris Respone To My Questions On Nod And Appeal

[vern2]

Got an email today from IRIS:

Thank you for your July 11, 2015 inquiry regarding your Notice of Disagreement (NOD) and appeal. The records of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reflect that we received your NOD on April 26, 2015. An appeal has been established and we are still processing your appeal. Currently there are 24,052 appeals pending and 21,198 appeals filed prior to yours. In addition, we continue to process your appeal associated with your October 7, 2013 Notice of Disagreement; this appeal has 5,866 filed prior to yours.
Appeals are worked in order based on the date the appeal was received and the processing time may be affected by the time it takes to acquire evidence. Due to our current inventory we cannot provide a timeline as to when the claim may be completed. All appeals are processed as promptly as possible.
Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below.
Sincerely yours,
RO Director
VA Regional Office

This better than the old 377 days and counting, but outlook is still bleak. At this rate it will be another year before my Appeal/NOD of 7 October will reach the front of the que. I am # 5,867. Wonder about how many appeals does this VARO (St. Petersburg) process each month/year?

[Gastone]

What Appeal route did you choose, DRO (Review or Hearing) or direct to BVA?

Do you have the all important "New & Material Evidence" that could allow a DRO or for that matter a SR Rater to award your claim at the RO level? Some Vets mistakenly hold on to their "Compelling N & M Evidence" thinking they will present it at the DRO or BVA Hearing.

BIG MISTAKE, get it in ASAP. You could get an Award or at least a SSOC if denial is continued, after a VA REG required Automatic Review of your Denial due to the receipt of N & M Evidence, by a Sr Rater or actual DRO. Deference is given to the original Denial Decision but that's where the N & M evidence comes in. If it's solid and compelling, you could get Awarded, way before your Hearing dates come on deck.

Semper Fi

Gastone

[broncovet]

I did some rather in depth research on times of appeals for Veterans, and posted it. It was based on the BVA chairmans report.

Read it if you like, or get the short version: Its gonna take an average of 4.6 years from the time you filed a NOD until you get a BVA decision. Your time could be shorter or longer, depending upon if you file a hardship, whether or not you were granted benefits at the DRO level, and how long your RO "sits" on your appeal.

As of 2013, the average time the RO "sits" on your appeal is 1060 days, before its even sent to the BVA. I hope people get mad enough at this to write to their congress critter.