Claims At Rating Board

[RockyA1911]

Is there a timeline or a threshold maximum time that a claim can sit at a rating board? I mean when a claim is labeled ready to rate and sent to the rating board, should it not be decided within 6 months, a year, two years. How long can the claim just sit there? I've seen other veteran's claims be decided in a year including from date of claim, C&Ps, etc.

Can the VA just leave your claim pending at the rating board forever and then just forget about you. Reason I say this is the veteran cannot obtain any further status once this happens and is just told to wait on the decision letter which should be soon. This has been going on for me for going on 21 months now and the claim has been at the rating board (farmed out to another RO) for going on 6 months.

How can one find out if it is being worked on or will just gather dust from here on out?

[RockyA1911]

John,

Nope it's definitely not a missing DD-214, I have three of them and when I got a copy of my C-File all three were still in there from 1976 with that date stamped as received from the VA. Like I said previously I have been service connected and receiving comp for TBI awarded back in Nov 1976. Yes, my claim and file was farmed out to Cleveland on 28 June 2006. I have heard of the shennanigan of "Not associating the evidence with the file" on one of the OIG reports as one of the delay tactics. My VARO is about 250 miles from me and I feel I would get the same answer, "Cannot provide any additional information, your claim is at a rating board in Cleveland".

I don't understand why they can't check with Cleveland NOW instead of telling me if I don't get a decision in 60 days from now to contact them again and they will check into it with Cleveland. That would make 669 days my claim has been pending before they will put forth any inquiry to find out why the delay is so long.

From what I have read 669 days is the average timeframe for a NOD to be decided, but this is initial claims and two increases for already exisiting TBI.

I believe it was intentional my claim was farmed out to another VARO and all the evidence I've sent them over the past 18 months did not go with it. This is the second time. In Sep 05 they farmed out my claim to Seattle VARO for rating and was returned as deferred because they did not have the documentation for Skull Loss, Tinnitus, Skin Disorder. Seattle returned it back in Oct 05. Now they waited until June 28 06 to farm the claim out to Cleveland for rating. But again did not send them any of the evidence that was in the folder until 2 Nov 06.

I have been playing musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey for beginning 21 months today!

[Michelle]

Just my opinion but I would have contacted the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in Washington D.C. by now..I'm going to pray for all of us because I am fed up as well. I have to try and make myself stay calm, so that I don't have multiple Anxiety attacks.

Just keep complaining to higher up; eventually they will have to decide something.

Michelle