rated competent Found "Competent" by the V.A but......

[Gaijin J]

I was proposed to be incompetent, so I presented all the evidence possible to convince the V.A. that although my injuries are extensive; I am competent.

I waited for about 1 1/2 years for the V.A. to decide that I am in fact able to handle may own affairs and rate me "competent". According to the letter I am rated as competent and I shall continue to receive my full payment. However, I have not received any back payment or retroactive payment. When I called the Hot Line they told me that it will take between 10-45days to process. It is now 97days later and I still have not seen any action taken by the V.A.. As I continue to call them, they state that I do rate a large sum for my retroactive pay but, no one knows who to contact. I am at a loss.

I don't know who to contact to get this moving or why it is taking them so long. Does anyone have experience with this.....?   I really just want to pay the bills that stacked up while I could not work and had no way of paying..... I am not trying to build a savings account. Please anyone advise.

[Gaijin J]

BlueVet,

My Complaint to the OIG is below.... I just sent it off..... Wondering if they will even look into it... LMAO

Names were changed to protect the innocent...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Your form has been submitted to the OIG Hotline. You may wish to print a copy of this page for your records.

First Name: GAIJIN

Last Name: J

Title: Mr

Address: PSC 80 Box XXXXX

City: APO

State: AP

Zip: 96367-0100

Telephone: 818-XXX-XXXX

Email: xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com

VA facility or office involved:
Pittsburgh or Waco - I live over seas so I am not sure.... but I file through Pittsburgh

Names of wrongdoers:
Unknown

Names of victims:
Gaijin J

Alleged legal or policy violation(s) or other misconduct:
Lost Retroactive Payment for Compensation

Effect of the wrongdoing, such as dollars lost, delay produced, etc.:
Several Thousand Dollars

Date(s) when the event(s) occurred:
Jun 3 (letter Dated)
Jun 12 (letter received)
June ~ (Called service center)
June 23 (IRIS) Incident: 150623-000021
June 24 (IRIS Reply) Incident: 150623-000021
July ~ (Called Service center)
July 22 (IRIS) Incident: 150722-000018
Aug 17 (Called Service center)
Aug 25 (IRIS) Incident: 150825-000019
Sept 9 (e-mail to Allison Hickey)
Sept 17 ( Email to OIG)


Names of witnesses:
Have e-mail conformation on everything except the phone calls.

Has this allegation been previously reviewed?: No

Have you contacted the VA OIG about this issue before?: No

Additional Comments:
Sir/ Ma'am,

I do not know if contacting you is the right thing to do, but I want to resolve an issue that has been lingering for a long time. I have requested information to assist me in fixing this issue, but was told in one of my phone calls that they did not even know whom to contact. I continue to ask but no one has an answer and this to me means that there are several thousand dollars that is owed to me and no one knows where it is...

My years of service were 1998-2004 then 2004-2009 ( got out for half a year) when, I was medically retired from the Marine Corps. At that time I could not walk or balance very well, and my memory was very mixed up. It was a time that I needed the most assistance and no one was there to help. But, I did not give up and kept doing all I could. My ex-wife took my son back to Japan and said that if I wanted to see him, I would have to go there as well and pay child support at $600... I did not want to leave him and believe that being part of his life goes far beyond the help I could have gotten in the states.

In doing this though it put me in a place that does not have any V.A. assistance. Which means that I had to live with chronic pain and no medicine to match the level of pain I was going through. Also I could not get a job very easily, In Japan the spouses of active duty service members have precedence over that of disabled Vets. Not that any of this is any thing you really need to know, I just want you to have some background.

So, without a real job to pay the rent and Child support, I had to do my best to balance the $900 I was receiving from the Marine Corps. This meant that I could only pay child support 1 time every 3 months and still have enough to buy some food and pay rent. Finally, I found a Veteran that bent over backwards to assist me. At that time we started the Claim because he had internet and I could not afford it... He printed all the needed documents and let me use his internet to research and use his phone to call. Several months after we initiated the claim, the V.A. began to give me my original rating from 2004 and took the retirement pay ( I understand why and do not worry about this). This made the money I was receiving increase to $1,100 a month ( That was the first time in a few years that I could buy meat). Then a few years later the V.A. assisted me again by Rating me to 100% service connected after my second time being in the Marine Corps. I was then able to pay the bills easier and start getting caught up on bills that accumulated over the time that I did not have a way to pay them.

However, the V.A. proposed to find me incompetent, but until they made a decision to rate me competent; I would continue to receive the normal payments... However my retroactive pay would not be paid unless I was found competent....I then gathered all evidence from hospitals and took classes losing days at work to prove my competence. About a year later, I received a letter from the V.A. stating that I have been found "Competent" and would continue to receive my regular payments. So, I called the V.A call center and was informed that they did not see anything in the system for the retro pay but, usually it takes between 10-45days to process... I waited about 30days and called again... and got the same answer. I also wrote to IRIS where I was informed of the same. After the 45days had passed and still nothing came from the V.A. in the way of Letter/phone/check/direct deposit, I wrote IRIS again.... and received no reply... a week later I called the service center and they again said that it takes 10-45 days and this time the Customer service representative stated that indeed the V.A. owes me a rather large retroactive payment. I then waited a few days and decided I want to have that in writing so, I Wrote IRIS again.... and again, no reply....

I am not sure if the V.A. was hoping for me to be more incompetent and forget about the retroactive pay but, I have not. I served our country 2 separate times Honorably and became disabled permanently after the second time.

This being said, I am at a loss as to who can actually help me in retrieving it, as I am starting to question the competency of the Veterans Affairs administration. I was judged on an answer given in a screening that was misinterpreted (Q: Do you pay your own bills? A: I live in Japan, So I work long hours, thus I give the money to my wife and she pays the bills while I am at work) And because I answered that way the made me prove my worth and competency. However the same organization that questioned my competency, is failing to pay money owed or even know how to file for it; within their own organization.

I still have bills that I am repaying with rather large balances from the years of living on virtually no money and having a lot of disabilities. I have been counting on this payment so that I can finally pay it all off and balance my life again. Can you please tell me what I should do, who to contact, and what is the next step I should take.

Very Respectfully,
Gaijin J
USMC
98-04 and 04-09
***********
100% Service Connected

[Gaijin J]

well..... as an update... I wanted to let you know that I threw a Hail Mary. I rewrote the 2 emails and sent the new combined one to every RO in the country, every congressman I could find on the internet and finally got an answer.

The RO for Houston Texas wrote me and said that he worked my case and I should Receive the Retro Payment in the next 3-4 days... I guess when we are about to give up all hope, a glimmer of hope shines through... I will post again if it does in fact hit my account.

Thank you all for the support.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Gaijin J
edited because.... I used crazy english and wanted to look a little smarter..... Hope it is easier to read

[bluevet]

Great News Gaijin! Congrats!!

[Gaijin J]

bluevet,

You, broncovet, USMC_VET, JR Reihs ,and Berta were my inspirations to write to them. Thank you all for the support and suggestions.... I looked in e-benefits and stated that the claim is pending notification. Can't wait to see if it adds up to the amount that I have calculated.... lol (probably not). But my hopes are high.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Gaijin J
Include names that need recognition for assistance

[broncovet]

Congratulations.   It just indicates more funny stuff at VA is going on.  They send your money to a 'fiduciary' which means no one, but they keep it.  I hope some VA heads roll on this.  

[USMC_VET]

Semper Fi Brother!  Gaijin J, Im glad it is working out for you and that you are now considered competent and getting your retro.   I hope you stick around and continue to learn and pass on what you have learned!

I do find it funny, in a sad way, that the VA can in any way consider themselves an authority on competence or incompetence.  Considering the fact they look at veterans records and if they are late on bills, etc they can determine you incompetent.  The VA makes promises they never keep, Say they have done things that are never done, lie, cheat and steal and on top of that dont pay their bills and prone to angry outbursts.  If they were a claims case they would be found incompetent themselves for severe narcissistic personality disorder with periods of angry outbursts and inability to manage their own finances.

Edited September 25, 2015 by USMC_VET