Effects submitting all claims vs. separate

[escalady]

Hello,

I am will be filing for my husband 100% temporary disability. I will have the copies of his records of hospitalization to submit at the time I do the claim on line. I need to also submit for other claims fie which I will not have copies of medical records for up to 30 days if not a little more. Would processing the requests separately affect processing times? For the sake of time would it better to submit the other claims to get them started and in the system without the copies of medical records? Thank you.

[Sgt. Wilky]

If it were me, I'd send in everything I have now, and continue to send the documents as they come in. Make sure you're only submitting copies. Do you have access to ebenefits? You can upload the documents straight to there if you do. This is just my opinion, more experienced people may say otherwise, but that's what I would do.

Good Luck and Semper Fi,

Sgt. Wilky

[Carl the Engineer]

VA's current policy is that any claim submit while a claim is pending becomes part of the first claim.  So, like Sgt Wilky says, fire in everything you have now (to include the new claims even if you dont have info for 30 days), so if you are successful you will have a older start date.  They sure as heck wont have anything settled in the next 30 days..

Good luck,

Hamslice

 

[Navy04]

Totally agree with the advice given above. I never wait around, just file all them, and get it out of the way. Good luck and God Bless

[ArNG11]

I agree with the above and suggest one more thing.  Save back at least one contemporary record for new evidence, just in case you need it later on. As well as plan on getting an IME/IMO, just in case.  JMO 

As long as the conditions you are filing for are well supported and you have the necessary ingredients for a success full claim you'll be golden.

The one negative that I have noticed though is if you file a cluster of claim or rather cluster of conditions in one claim they tend to deny most of them.  Just relaying my experience with a multi symptom claim.

Edited December 24, 2015 by ArNG11

[broncovet]

How soon would you like your benefits to begin?  If you want them to begin in 2024, then wait until then and they may show up by 2029.  

However, if you are like most people, they would like their benefits to begin YESTERDAY.  

I would like mine to begin in 2002, and that is when I first applied.  

The sooner you apply, the sooner they will happen. (If approved).  

Some people suggest waiting until the present claim is finished before applying.  To that, I say, "How much can you afford to lose by waiting to file?"  

For me, I can afford to lose anything, so that means the sooner I apply the better.  

I made that mistake.  I could have applied years earlier, and did not.  I wont be making that mistake again, I will think up new mistakes to foul up my claim!

 

[pwrslm]

File your claim today, don't wait.  This will not be a FDC.

If you can be sure that you will have all of your claim documents in "30 days", you might be ok to hold off till you have them.  Just be sure to put in the notice on EBenefits that you intend to file a claim to reserve your claim date as soon as possible.

Fully Developed Claims (FDC) are moving pretty fast through the system now, take around 3-4 months to complete, which is a great advantage over the slow way.  You have to balance your needs with your wants so to speak, when  you make up your mind on this issue.  If the claim is not FDC, it could drag out for month more compared to the FDC program.

Most importantly, insure that you have all of the needed evidence to get your claim approved...ie...if you don't have a nexus or a MD's statement that a condition is secondary to a service connected condition...you should get that before you file if at all possible.

Edited December 24, 2015 by pwrslm