Ebenfits Updates

[Jay]

Helllo All

               I was hoping someone could help me understand.  On November 11, 2016 it will have been a year since I submitted a NOD DRO review.

I checked ebenefits to see if there are any updates or movement and there are none.  It is completely empty.   Can anyone shed some light as to why this is.  Will it always be this way?

By the way the case is a retro (back pay) I believe they owe me.

 

       Thanks for everyone's input

 

 

[Berta]

Is this the same claim you are talking about in another thread????

 

 

"Thanks Buck52 for your input.   Ebenefits has a date of 11/11/15 which is when I submitted the claim.  I have an attorney who submitted the I9.  So all that is good.  I've check historical claims, and all the links I could think of.  Tshere is small mention that I requested a NOD and a DRO review.  However, nothing else is in Ebenfit.  Is it normal to have Ebenfits be blank on the status of the case for a year? It doesn't tell me what they are looking at where in the process they are at completely nothing. Thanks again for your inputs."

 

The EED for the 11/11/15 will be that date. I can only assume the claim you want a 5 year retro on ----is some other claim???????

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 12, 2016 by Berta

[Gastone]

Jay. I'm at Det RO also. You asked for a DRO Review and have submitted the Mandatory N & M Evidence, that wasn't available to the original Rater for review, right???

DRO Reviews are completed in the Order they're received. Traditionally, Reviews are handled faster than DRO Hearings. I don't know but I don't think the DRO's cherry pick the easy files.

Semper Fi

[Jay]

Yes I have SMC but not sure what letter maybe L or R.   The claim does regard the 21-8940 TDIU which I have a hard time with.  Why put in a TDIU claim now when you are already 100% will the change my 100%?  I am not sure if they ever contacted SSD or not because at that time I hadn't been awarded SSD benefits.  Once I was awarded I sent VA a notice to the fact.

[JDubya]

I'm in the same boat as Jay. I filed an appeal this past March (2016) with my RO out of Albuquerque. Appeal was on a claim  to increase rating and add secondary disabilities. Since then, I've had my C&P and an informal hearing with the DRO. I'm told this is very quick by VA standards. Still, there's no new information on eBenefits. It just says that my appeal has been received. Peggy (chat & phone) keeps giving me the canned response - average of 408 days to make a decision. I've visited the RO twice. One of those times I was laughed at by the rep, saying I should expect to wait years. The second time, the rep told me that there's no way I could have had my C&P and hearing already. I made him look into it before I left and he verified that I had. Very frustrating, and I expect that I still have a long time to wait. My only question is why there's no status updates like there was for my original claim. Do DRO's keep everything off the books?

[broncovet]

In reference to questions which begin, "How long does it take the VA to ______?", I would defer you to the BVA chairman's report, which tracks "average" wait times.  Like yourself we are very frustrated at VA for taking sooooo long.  

Make no mistake about it:  VARO "sits" on appeals a VERY long time before they do anything.  If you break down the "average wait times" on the BVA chair report, you will see that much of the 4.66 year wait is at the Regional Office.   By the way, the 4.25 year wait just got longer this year, its now 4.66 years if you add up the numbers and divide by 365.  Its expected to get still  worse, too, in 2016.  

I will repost the BVA Chair's numbers for 2015:

Notice of Disagreement Receipt to Statement of the Case VBA 419 days AOJ

Statement of the Case Issuance to Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9) Receipt Appellant 39 days

Substantive Appeal Receipt to Certification of Appeal VBA 537 days

Certification of Appeal to Board Receipt of Certified Appeal Board 222 days

Board Receipt of Certified Appeal to Issuance of Board Decision* Board 270 days

Average Remand Time Factor VBA 255 days } AOJ *This includes the Board’s cycle time of 160 days. Cycle time measures the time from when an appeal is actually received at the Board until a decision is reached, excluding the time the case is with a VSO representative for preparation of written argument.

end BVA chairmans quote.

Notice that its almost 1000 days sitting at your RO.  (537 days plus 419) 

Also, there is nothing on the chairmans report that includes "with VSO" because VSO's dont want us to know they also sit on our claims, often for a year or so.  (Mine was 18 months, and the VSO lied to me about it.)  

It still takes the BVA a little over a year, after certification,  (270 days, plus another 160), but the VARO likes to sit on it 3 years before they do anything.  

Source:

http://www.bva.va.gov/Chairman_Annual_Rpts.asp

Edited November 15, 2016 by broncovet

[Jay]

I got my answer and it was a denial.  I9 was submitted.  Guess I am waiting years now.