E-Mail to Allison Hickey pays off

[highoctane]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for this...my claim isn't complete just yet, so I don't really know if I was successful. BUT I thought I needed to share this, regardless of what the decision is, I got some relief from the frustration of dealing with the "system". I e-mailed Allison Hickey a couple of weeks ago about a claim that was denied for "no clinical diagnosis" when it was well documented in my military service treatment records. It was my main contention, and I was dumbfounded as to how it could be denied. She returned my E-mail and CC'd the RO (Winston Salem) director, Ms. Rawls. She said she would have the claim reviewed. Shortly thereafter Ms. Rawls e-mailed me and said one of here team members would be contacting me soon. That happened today, a Mr. Heliman from Winston-Salem RO contacted me and we spend a good amount of time going over my claim. He was very professional and patient and poured over all of the details, and let's just say things are now quickly moving in the right direction. My reconsideration claim went from gathering evidence to prep for notification in one day! It's a long story and I won't bore with those details, but let's just say that I have been very impressed with the attitudes of all the  personnel at the upper levels of the VBA that I've recently dealt with. It was a breath of fresh air. I'm imagine I just got lucky and Allison read my e-mail, i'm sure she gets far too many to actually read them all. If anyone has a real issue with a claim being dealt with by Winston-Salem that is frustrating them send me a message, Ms. Rawls has given me here blessing to share her contact info. Like Ms. Hickey, Ms. Rawls truly wants to help vets.

Edited October 5, 2015 by highoctane

[georgiapapa]

high octane,

Good to hear you had a positive experience.  Undersecretary Hickey has a good record of responding to requests for assistance from veterans in a timely manner, including several Hadit members.  Her efforts have frequently resulted in positive outcomes for the veterans.  I hope the same holds true in your case.

Semper Fi,

GP

[Buck52]

 Its a good thing you emailed her...I'd say contacting the upper's gets things moving...good thing you email her.

Any veteran having problems with his/her claim  or at a snail movement   email Ms  Allison Hickey she does get things rolling.

 

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

 

[highoctane]

What I would say is if you e-mail her put something compelling in the subject line and carefully think out your e-mail. Again, I am sure she does not have time to respond to all the emails she gets. I had actually emailed her months ago and didn't get any response. But that email was not well thought and composed..it was borne of frustration. I'm sure it read like many other rant e-mails she probably gets everyday, I was very frustrated. I was not belligerent, but I also wasn't articulate in that first e-mail. Be smart. Only contact Ms. Hickey when you feel that there is really an issue that you feel she should be aware of with how your claim was handled. Be able to articulate details with respect to how the claim was or is being mishandled. She and the upper level VBA management do really seem to care. Often though hands are tied by legalease and the federal government. Most if not ALL of the "roadblocks" that we as veterans face are put in place by powers higher than the VBA..the VBA employees are often just following orders and following procedures. As we all know S rolls down hill..nothing is different here..the VBA employees are taking the brunt of our frustrations but they are just doing so under orders, to shield real culprits..the politicians in our federal government. They do not like it any more than we do.

[highoctane]

Claim was completed and the rating commensurate with my C&P exam was granted! This now qualifies as a success story lol. That might be a record for moving from gathering evidence to complete...less than 24 hours?

Edited October 6, 2015 by highoctane

[Buck52]

Yes it is a great success!...Congratulations Buddy.

 

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