I received my Award letter granting my Appeal for CUE granting me an Earlier Effective Date for my 100% Service Connected Disability Pension. It stretches from September 1, 1971 to January 27, 2003. My appeal Lawyer says he has to present a brief to the VRO outlining what I think I should be getting paid. I was shocked to say the least. The granting of CUE claims is apparently rare. I was told that my case may not reach the VRO for another 30 days and it will take some time for it to be reviewed by at least 3 review officers after the amount of the Award is determined. Determining the amount is very complicated because I went through five (3) "Successful" Marriages during this time window two children from the first which lasted a year after 1971. Putting the dates together for these Earth shaking events will be difficult as I will have to contact each of my Ex's to nail them down or else research vital statistics at the record centers involved. I do not think the VRO will want to use the expensive time to go over all of this "Historical Data" and petition me for a compromise? This covers a period of 31 years, 4 months, and 26 days. I would like to hear from others who have gone through this type of process in order to get some idea of what I am facing and how long it will take to get it funded? The way things are going, with "Savage Barbarians" at the helm, I may just get told to "Go to Hell"? These are Treacherous times! My Disability is Bipolar Affective Disorder aka Manic Depressive. i.e. I am F'ing Nuts!
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.
However, (and I have no idea of knowing whether or not you would likely succeed) Im unsure of why you seem to be so adamant against getting an increase in disability compensation.
When I buy stuff, say at Kroger, or pay bills, I have never had anyone say, "Wait! Is this money from disability compensation, or did you earn it working at a regular job?" Not once. Thus, if you did get an increase, likely you would have no trouble paying this with the increase compensation.
However, there are many false rumors out there that suggest if you apply for an increase, the VA will reduce your benefits instead.
That rumor is false but I do hear people tell Veterans that a lot. There are strict rules VA has to reduce you and, NOT ONE of those rules have anything to do with applying for an increase.
Yes, the VA can reduce your benefits, but generally only when your condition has "actually improved" under ordinary conditions of life.
Unless you contacted the VA within 72 hours of your medical treatment, you may not be eligible for reimbursement, or at least that is how I read the link, I posted above. Here are SOME of the rules the VA must comply with in order to reduce your compensation benefits:
NOTE: TO PROVE CAUSE OF DEATH WILL LIKELY REQUIRE AN AUTOPSY. This means if you die of a SC condtion, your spouse would need to do an autopsy to prove cause of death to be from a SC condtiond. If you were P and T for 10 full years, then the cause of death may not matter so much.
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jbgruver
I received my Award letter granting my Appeal for CUE granting me an Earlier Effective Date for my 100% Service Connected Disability Pension. It stretches from September 1, 1971 to January 27, 2003. My appeal Lawyer says he has to present a brief to the VRO outlining what I think I should be getting paid. I was shocked to say the least. The granting of CUE claims is apparently rare. I was told that my case may not reach the VRO for another 30 days and it will take some time for it to be reviewed by at least 3 review officers after the amount of the Award is determined. Determining the amount is very complicated because I went through five (3) "Successful" Marriages during this time window two children from the first which lasted a year after 1971. Putting the dates together for these Earth shaking events will be difficult as I will have to contact each of my Ex's to nail them down or else research vital statistics at the record centers involved. I do not think the VRO will want to use the expensive time to go over all of this "Historical Data" and petition me for a compromise? This covers a period of 31 years, 4 months, and 26 days. I would like to hear from others who have gone through this type of process in order to get some idea of what I am facing and how long it will take to get it funded? The way things are going, with "Savage Barbarians" at the helm, I may just get told to "Go to Hell"? These are Treacherous times! My Disability is Bipolar Affective Disorder aka Manic Depressive. i.e. I am F'ing Nuts!
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jbgruver
James, It went to the VARO first and they flat rejected it in short order! So I filed an appeal to the BVA. This all started on 02/13/2011 is the earliest date of documents I have on file. I u
jbgruver
The Law firm is Kazmierczak & Kazmierczak in New Jersey and they have a web site. They did my case on a fee contingency basis and there portion is 20% limited by Federal Law. There are many Veter
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