tdiu What The F(*&^^%

[cowboys4life]

I posted in the success part of this site just yesterday only to learn that it may have been premature I guess when you are dealing with the VA nothing should surprise me. Okay so I get a call from my regional office today and the gentleman in the other end of this fiasco said that he was replying to an inquiry I had recently made. I told him that I was good because my service rep had already given me the supposedly good news about being increased from 30% to 100% for my heart, increased from 0% to 50% for my pes planus both feet, 0 % to 30% for residual scar of heart surgery and 10% for residual scar. I learned today that I should have asked the service rep. the effective date and whether or not I got service connected on the heart and feet which are both SC. I also got TDIU all the way back to 2002. Here's the catch everything seems to have been worked as a non service claim. WH(*&^. I asked the guy to explain to me how that can be. How can my service connected disabilities that I put in for an increase all of sudden is written up as a non svc pension. He could not explain it to me and said that he needs a fresh set of eyes to look at and he will get back with me on that. Mind you ,all of these conditions were for an  increase and per judge orders should be considered as a claim for TDIU which I had put in for some years ago. The guy also said that my TDIU was for pension for which I told him I'm already receiving the glorified SSI from the VA maximum amount, which was the very reason I put in for those increases which were granted. Will someone please talk to me about what is going here. Is it an hones mistake or am I missing something in this entire process. I'm tired of being broke and homeless every few years and now I have a 3 yr old daughter to worry about. Ready to set something OFFF.

[pwrslm]

Until you get the notification from the RO, sit tight.  Take names, dates and times everytime you contact someone from the RO, make notes on everything.

When you have the BBE, you will know which direction to go.  Getting all hopped up on some guy who called might be a bit premature.  If he is right, bring it back here, people can help.

Edited June 18, 2016 by pwrslm

[FormerMember]

You just have to love those Veterans Service Representatives. They think it all out for you. It increases their success rate when they file it for non-service connected. Sheesh. I bet Mojo, old Homer Simpson's monkey, would be a natural for this job.

[Kgosi]

Without seeing the paperwork it is difficult to answer your question, but from what you wrote I may be able to take a shot at it. It sounds as though you were 40% service connected for disabilities and you were also eligible for pension benefits due to income. If you are eligible for comp and pen the VA will always pay out whichever one is higher. If you are a single Vet with no dependents then comp will pay out $587.36 a month, but pension benefits could easily be more.

Looking at your profile of 40% service connected, I am guessing that is from the 30% heart, which was increased to 100% and 10% residual scar that remained the same? If your heart was the original service connected disability then the 100% comp will be much higher than the pension and you would receive comp instead of pension.

The reason the VSR is uncertain of what is happening is that there are three pension centers that handle all pension claims. They are in Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and St. Paul. The regional offices in the various states handle the comp claims. So, the comp VSR does not fully understand how the pension side works, and the pension VSR does not fully understand the comp side. 

Here is where it gets more confusing... if that is possible. When a Vet in receipt of pension requests a service connected increase the claim goes back to the comp VSR to process. They schedule the exams and the comp rater rates the results. Once they process the award, the computer will determine whether to pay the highest rate of comp or pension.

[Berta]

I just deleted my initial response.....I was being too tough on the VSR...thinking he or the vet rep gave you the wrong info...

Sometime ago we asked to see your rating sheet on the 40% but as far as I know, it was never posted here.

What is the 40%? SC or NSC?

"Mind you ,all of these conditions were for an  increase and per judge orders should be considered as a claim for TDIU which I had put in for some years ago. The guy also said that my TDIU was for pension for which I told him I'm already"etc

what judge? was this a BVA remand? If so can you give us the Docket # and Citation #?

 

..

 

[Buck52]

Man, What a dang mess the VA has you in

Did you get the award packet in yet?

Usually after a VSO writes or calls the veteran about his award  the award packet comes in about 5 to 7 days.

I agree with ms berta  it sure seems they can't read  or read what they need to read  eh!

if you don't get this straighten up soon  you should seek an experienced VA Attorney or keep checking back with Hadit members like Ms Berta or Asknod.

Hopefully the VA will make it right.

..........Buck

[Berta]

Buck I deleted that post (although I sure know VA and vet reps cannot always read).

I searched for the past posts by this vet but there is not enough info for any of us to really opine on here.

Kgosi assessed this very well as to how comp and pension work.