What does it mean your appeal was activated by the board?

[dsd84dsd]

What does it mean your appeal was activated by the board?

[HorizontalMike]

PING!

I still want someone to answer the OP question, because it sure appears to me that the ROs are gerrymandering any and all excuses to undermine the definition of what it means to have your BVA Appeal "Activated" at the BVA.  Geez, mine had been there for over two years and the ROs STILL claim that they could/can/did withdraw my legacy BVA appeals, with docket numbers, and "merge" them into RAMP.

 

Surely I am NOT the only one seeing what is happening here...

[HorizontalMike]

I am RE-POSTING here because the then new RAMP subcategory did not exist at the time.

I feel this is very timely because several of us have been appealing our claims for years, only to forced into a TOO NEW system that appears to be a rapid denial system aimed at making the VA LOOK good in "catching up" with disability claims.  I hope that I am the only one,... BUT

___________________________________

IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN LEGACY APPEALS PROCESS,... THEN PAY ATTENTION!

My legacy appeals were actually AT the BVA and being handed out to judges.  This new "RAMP" thing erroneously "PULLED THEM" from the BVA!  My FORM-9 was filed 2-1/2yr ago!  This could be YOU, so pay attention to what is happening to ALL of your appeals! 

IMO, this "RAMP" thing is way too new to be trusted.  I already have a corncob where I don't want it, and I am NOT smiling about a Dxxxxxmn thing!

HorizontalMike

_________________________________________________________

From: XX Xxxx
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2018 11:49 AM
To: ME
Subject: FW: Claim improperly pulled from BVA and placed into RAMP

I never received a response to my initial inquiry so I had to escalate my issue up further. I just received a response last night. See below.

 XX Xxxx

Attorney at Law

From: ZZ Zzzz, VBAWASH
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2018 10:54 PM
To: XX Xxx, VBAWAC
Subject: RE: Claim improperly pulled from BVA and placed into RAMP

Hi XX,

I am really sorry this happened. Actually, the issues were still properly before the Board, but the RAMP processing station erroneously included all issues within the initial RAMP letter that was sent. After that, the Board updated the database to place all issues in RAMP, thinking that the letter was correct. Instead they should have adjudicated the issues and notified the AMO of the error in the letter so we could instruct the RAMP processing site to send a corrective letter.

I would recommend filing an NOD with the Board as well as a motion to advance on the Board’s docket due to administrative error. I will also reach out to the Board from my end to explain the situation and tell them to look for your motion. Please let me know if that works for you.

ZZ

From: XX Xxx, VBAWAC
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2018 12:06 PM
To:ZZ Zzzz, VBAWASH <@va.gov>
Subject: Claim improperly pulled from BVA and placed into RAMP

Hi ZZ,

I am hoping you can help me out with this situation. My client Michael YYYyyy (abcd) had claims for sleep apnea, depression, and increased rating for TBI that were at the Board (activated) and were already with the judge and his staff attorney ready to be adjudicated when all of a sudden the claims were pulled from the Board and placed into RAMP.

We elected Mr. YYYyyy’s claim for TDIU into RAMP but that was the only claim that was eligible for RAMP since the others were already activated at the Board. However, it appears that despite being ineligible for RAMP the other appeals were put into RAMP anyway.  

Now rather than being with the judge waiting for a decision Mr. YYYyyy’s claims for sleep apnea, depression, and TBI are no longer at the Board. Will you please have someone look into this and reactivate the claims at the Board so that we can get a final decision?

Here are a few important pieces of information that I have been given from the Board concerning this matter:

• The claims for TBI rating and service connection for depression went to Judge Kxxxxzz on September 18, 2018. There were then assigned to staff attorney In on the same day. They were pulled from the Board and placed into RAMP on September 24, 2018.

  The claim for service connection of sleep apnea went to Judge Tyyynnnxx on September 18, 2018. The claim then went to staff attorney P on September 20, 2018. It was pulled from the Board and into RAMP on September 24, 2018.

•  

Thank you so much!

 XX Xxxx

Attorney at Law

 

[broncovet]

The VA has an amazing knack to either "find a glitch in our claim" or, if they cant find one, they "CREATE" one.  

It sounds like you dont yet have an appeal decision and you are upset/frustrated at the continued delay.  

Make no mistake here:  VA "makes stuff up" to tell you "why" your claim was not approved, as well as why its delayed.  

They love to try to make themselves look smart, by trying to make us look dumb, ESPECIALLY by making up words that literally have no meaning or no applicability to your claim.  

My 2002 decision was denied because "it was too long since military service".  

I looked up the criteria, and "length of time since military service" was NOT one of the criteria.  Remember, the regulations state that the VA has to rate you "on the applicable criteria".  

This term:  "Activated by the BVA" is likely total BS designed to allow VA a "slight of hand" diversion so they can figure out another excuse to deny.  When a magician does his tricks, he "diverts" your attention away from him palming your card.  They are good at it, and so is VA.  

Fouling up claims by merging them into RAmp when they are not supposed to is just par for the course.  

In my 16 years, I have had claims "bifurcated" and others "merged".  I can tell you, I much prefer them merged.  For me, I want to be done fighting with VA, I dont really want to fight them on service connection, fight them in the disability percentage, fight them again as to whether or not its P and T, and fight them again, for the effective date, then fight them again if/when they try to rreduce you.    Instead, I would like this all completed in "ONE" good BVA (or whatever) decision.  

Merging these claims may well be to your advantage, unless, of course, you would like to spend the next 20-30 years fighting VA at each step I mentioned.  

I would love it if they merged everything into one, instead of cutting it up (bifurcating) it into multiple pieces, ALL of which need to be ultimately decided by the Board or higher.  

Keep this in mind:  In about 3 months (Feb. 2019) the VA is supposed to be "full on" ramp.  

Getting into RAmp AHEAD of Feb. 2019, seems like a great idea to me.  Is the RAMP just a denial machinE?   Probably..sort of like a DRO review is now.    The good (no great) part of RAmp, IMHO, is that both the time wasting process of the SOC and "certifiying" your claim to the BVA have been eliminated.  This means, "poof", and 3 years is taken off your appeal time, because the SOC is about a year, and the certifying it to the BVA is about another 2 years.  

Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy adamantly opposing stuff that would/could/did actually benefit us.  This is the way I see this:  This merger should save you a whole lot of appealing, but, of course, VA can reverse this and decide to bifurcate your claim later.  

My advice is to "not worry" about this "activation at the Board" term, as its largely meaningless and could even benefit you, as I have already explained.  Instead, keep your focus on meeting the caluza elements, documenting symptoms, and fighting VA on the effective dates.  

I suggest you chill out, let your attorney handle it.  I dont recommend hiring an attorney, then working on your claim yourself.  It boils down to do you trust your attorney or not?  It sounds like you have already made that decsion and hired them, and now you simply need to have the resolve and let them handle it.  

Like yourself, I have been tempted more than once to tell my attorney how to do their job.  And, sometimes the way I would have done it COULD even be shown to be better.  But I hired them to make those decisions, freeing me from the burden of working my own claim.  That is, I dont want to hire an attorney to do it, then wind up doing it myself anyway.  What sense is that??  

UNLESS there has been a "compelling reason", I suggest you simply let your attorney handle it.  You made that decison ONCE, and you dont need to revisit your decision again every day or every week/year.  

Like yourself, I am attorney represented.  Glover Luck opted NOT to represent me in my current CAVC appeal, so I have hired Chris Attig.  (GL won me a five figure settlement, so I have no hard feelings there!  My attorney fees were very low, as most of it was paid by EAJA fees.) . 

In my 16 years of fighting VA, I have had good luck with attorney's, much better than with VSO's.  

Frankly, I suggest you get a hobby and stop working your own claim when you have hired an attorney to do the same.  If you hired someone to fix your car, would you fix it yourself?  If you were gonna fix it yourself, then dont hire someone else to do it.  Hiring an attorney for VA is a long term decision.   Its unrealistic for it to happen real quickly, attorney or no attorney.