tdiu UNEMPLOYABILITY AND INCREASE..CONFUSED

[Army Grunt 11b]

Hello fellow vets. I need your educated answers on this if you could?  I filed a claim for an increase and individual unemployability.... I logged on to ebenefits yesterday and realised I was bumped up from 80% to 100%..My question is--would it show up as 100% even though i am only at 80% but unemployable? And based on everyones personal experience how long does it usually take for backpay to hit your account? 

[JR Reihs]

You will most likely have to wait until you get your letter unless E- beni updates.  Either way you get the 100% rate and that is a big deal in itself, it also may be possible that you may have gotten P&T, you will know soon enough.

Money should hit very soon as it has already showed up on your screen.   Congrats!

[eagle1012004]

If you are 80% rated, but are  receiving 100% because you are IU or TDIU, then your records will reflect you with a 80% rating, but you are receiving 100% benefit, because your service connected disabilities make you unemployable. You will get all the benefits of 100%, but your records will still indicate a 80% rating.

Now if they did an actual increase in your service connected disabilities and they total an actual 100% rating, then all of your records will reflect a rating of 100%. 

Congratulations and Thank you for your service!!

[Buck52]

If you were 80% and they used  that to use the extra schedular to rate you IU  and your combined rating is 80% with IU  and you filled for increase and they give you  High enough rating , if you got another rating at 60%   that is a 92% rating and rounded off at a 90% rating   however because with an extra schedular IU Award  your automatically considered at the 100%  the letters will say your 80% but being paid at the 100% rate because of your SC Disability that keeps you from working,,,, but when you file for increase and they give you a 100% rating   it means that rating must be high enough for the VA TO GIVE YOU THE 100%RATING??/   sorry if this is confusing  to you   but it is somewhat confusing.

80% plus 60% is a 92% rating to be rated at 90%  any increase you get from now  on up to 60%or more for any other S.C. disability  then you meet the SMC Criteria. & that is a statutory rating. &347.00 Month increase on top of your 100%rating.

I can't see how they rated you with 100 %? &  if you were 80% and got another 60% that still does not = to the 100%??

jmo

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

Edited August 5, 2016 by Buck52

[GuaymasJim]

You'll have to wait for the award letter to know for certain.

Now, let's address TDIU!

IU TDIU just two acronyms for EXACTLY the same thing. TDIU is the correct one. TDUI is an accounting gimmick to patch up the 1943 rating schedule.

Sorry Buck, I am not being critical, but your use of: " to use the extra schedular to rate you IU" is inaccurate and confusing.  There is nothing "extra schedular" about TDIU!  It is a rating in and of  itself! If you meet the either set of requirements: (1) a single SC condition rated at 60%(or higher) rating OR (2) multiple SC conditions adding up to 70% (or higher) and one of which is rated at least at 40%, the rater MUST at least consider (as opposed to MUST award) a TDIU award.

The term "extra schedular" ONLY refers to a veteran who DOES NOT MEET one of the above sets of requirements;  but still feels (s)he is unemployable because of his/her service connected condition(s). The claim must be sent to the Compensation and Pension Division at the Central Office in D.C. for adjudication. Theoretically (will never happen) a veteran could receive the TDIU rating with only a single condition rated at 10%. However, a veteran with a single SC condition rated at and limited to 50% (migraine headaches for instance) or a veteran with four SC conditions rated at 30% each (Equals 70% over-all but no single 40% SC condition) and great medical and vocational documentation has a very reasonable chance of being awarded TDIU especially it the veteran has combat injuries (not required but can often sway a rater using BOD).

Since the VA is obligated to "maximize" a veteran's benefits, the VA may (and should) juggle the combinations to arrive at a combination that could qualify for TDIU.  Once TDIU is awarded, P&T must be considered (but NOT automatically awarded) like any other award, and a veteran may also qualify for statutory SMC-S (Housebound) if that veteran has enough additional SC conditions, not related to those used for the TDIU award, to add up to an additional 60%.  The juggling of combinations I spoke of can be really important here.

I believe (and many disagree with me) that TDIU is a better rating than 100% schedular because I believe it makes easier to qualify for SMC-S.  On the other hand, there are some rather strong restrictions on working with a TDIU rating.  These restrictions include, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED, to earning less than poverty level income.  The type and amount of work a veteran does can get TDIU reduced to the veteran's schedular rating.  A TDIU veteran MUST read, study, and clearly understand the work limitations that his/her schedular rating indicates.  Go volunteer for 40 hours a week at a VAMC with $0 earned income and you can expect a "Notice to Reduce" letter at any time.  No amount of "Unearned Income"-including winning the lottery like I did-will jeopardize your TDIU. On the other hand, the rater must even consider you actual residence when considering TDIU.  For instance, it your education, training, and work experience is in nuclear plant operations and you live in Big Piney, Wyoming.  Not much call for that set of skills in Big Piney, and the rater cannot say, "but if the veteran moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee (s)he would be employable."

I accept and try to answer PM questions, if you have any.

Semper Fi!