BVA Win, wrong retro amount, who to contact?

[Berta]

Do you have proof that you faxed this to them?

They do make errors. They made a 40,000 error on one of my issues.Long ago 

I griped about it via mail and then actually gave up on that because I had re opened my DIC claim.

I did get DIC but under 1151, but they were recovering my FTCA offset , so I got no monthly benefit, but I was sure the offset had been paid  , recouped as they called  it.

The  new claim was for DIC as  direct SC death due to AO.

They had to contact the Regional Counsel-VA- due to the FTCA circumstances and he called CUE on them and told them to pay me  a little over 28, 000 they had recouped after the offset had been recovered.

I went over their audit in the letter advising me of what Regional Counsel had ordered, and found they had left out an entire year of DIC, and also additional payment because  my daughter was still in high school. It was a little over 11, 000 more.

I sent them a letter , attached copy of their audit and copy of my handwritten calculations, telling them exactly where the error was -the year they left out.

The additional amount  was in the mail within about 3 weeks.

 

 

 

 

[Navy62Spouse]

4 hours ago, Berta said:

Do you have proof that you faxed this to them?

They do make errors. They made a 40,000 error on one of my issues.Long ago 

I griped about it via mail and then actually gave up on that because I had re opened my DIC claim.

I did get DIC but under 1151, but they were recovering my FTCA offset , so I got no monthly benefit, but I was sure the offset had been paid  , recouped as they called  it.

The  new claim was for DIC as  direct SC death due to AO.

They had to contact the Regional Counsel-VA- due to the FTCA circumstances and he called CUE on them and told them to pay me  a little over 28, 000 they had recouped after the offset had been recovered.

I went over their audit in the letter advising me of what Regional Counsel had ordered, and found they had left out an entire year of DIC, and also additional payment because  my daughter was still in high school. It was a little over 11, 000 more.

I sent them a letter , attached copy of their audit and copy of my handwritten calculations, telling them exactly where the error was -the year they left out.

The additional amount  was in the mail within about 3 weeks.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for that info Berta.  No, I do not have proof that I faxed as I fax from home...although I may be able to set it so that it would print it out.  The first time I called, they sent the audit report quickly.  The second time,  I faxed and they sent another audit report within a week (although with very different amounts).  Neither of the audit reports are correct. ..not even for the amount they did pay. They are about $66,000 shy of the full amount due.

Who did you contact that went above regional counsel?  The letter and flow chart I created & sent explains how things were done incorrectly.  They started with the higher percentage shown as paid.  For example, 2006-2009, they show that 50% was paid, but actually only 30% was received then...so they ended up paying a 50% difference instead of paying 70% difference.  It is like this at each staged increase figured (they are off by 20%).  Then there is s period at the end  that simply wasn’t paid st all...possibly because the percentages were off.  I sent a copy of the decision letter and the order letter as well, because they show what is supposed to be paid and the correct percentages with years of what was actually paid.

Who did you mail your letter to with you calculations?

i can try calling them again next week and see if they are working on it.  Any other ideas of avenues we might pursue?  Thank you!

Edited March 24, 2018 by Navy62Spouse

[Berta]

"Who did you mail your letter to with you calculations?" To my VARO-

if the VA letters  you got  have a alphanumeric code near the top right hand side, put attention to and put the Alpha part, as they are the initials of the last VARO person who handled your claim or the audit.

You can also go to www.va.gov site and click on Contact US, then Click on Ask a Question and they will direct you  to IRIS, their automated system.

You can file this as a status question or as a complaint.

The Regional Counsel had to verify something VA requested that I had stated to them about my 1151 and FTCA award.(wrongful death). I think he had to call General Counsel.

When he got the request and my C file he saw my past letters to them on the FTCA offset to my DIC  that they had ignored and this is why he ordered them to pay me the years they had continued to withhold and should not have.

I suggest IRIS should reply to you by email ( to get the hard copy response) because if you check  the box for phone call reply- they might make something up.

VA Central gets copies of IRIS complaints...I know that because VA Central called me when I filed one or two.

That took a few thumbs out of butts at my RO.

 

[Berta]

I dont know why I just clicked on this older thread-

But I did get some good news today- my IRIS complaint is being worked on- Because they apparently  found my C & P exam request.

When I got the IRIS email confirmation they asked if I wanted to add more-so I did-I made sure they knew of a part of my OAWB complaint- regarding their director 's lack of knowledge of VA basic case law and I named her RO lackey as well-and what he did, to hinder my claim.

This will be very interesting to see how it all turns out.

 

 

[Navy62Spouse]

Berta, I’m so glad they responded to your IRIS and you had a chance to add information.   Keep us posted on how this goes.  Yes, should be interesting for sure.

I contacted IRIS myself last May, which produced a new claim for reviewing the retro amount.  Cleveland VARO ended up sending it to the pension center in Wisconsin (which covers Ohio).  Nothing was done until the end of October and all WI pension center did was send a letter saying the amounts I had on my chart were wrong and theirs were right...case closed.  So....I completed the NOD they mailed and sent a letter attempting to spell everything out very simply.  I explained how the BVA Appeal, Decision and Order to pay (all 3) state the correct percentage amounts that were paid and how this coincided with the chart I had prepared...and sent copies of these documents.   I will give them until the end of January and check on the status with Iris again.  Any thoughts on this?

[Berta]

I have had to spell things out to them over the years like they are ten years old.

My VARO has made many mistakes in past retro amounts they sent to me, on numerous issues.

One of the CUes I have peding now is ab breakdown of an audit by Nehmer RO that stated it was an "estimate", but it is off by many thousands of dollars.

I sent them my calculations as I had to do in the past-

In one case, they ignored my letters that they had taken too much of my FTCA offset from my DIC-

most FTCA offset involve te entire settlement but I negotiated the settlement wih GC myself.

When I re opened my claim for direct SC death, they had to check some evidence with the Regional Counsel due to my statement that said:

Since the OGCsettled with me, under FTCA, as well as the RO awarded me DIC under 1151  for wrongful death due to VA malpractice,

it is " as likely as not "that they malpracticed on my husband;s DMII from AO- never diagnosed or treated in the many years he was a VA patient." This prompted the RC to ve5rufy all that and he called a CUE on them over the letters I had written, that they had ignored.He sent me a letter that he had otrdered them to pay me.

They sent me a 5 figure check, but that was all wrong, and I sent the my calculations and showed them what they missed and another 5 figure check was in the mail.

Vets and their survivors have to go over retros and any audits they make VERY carefully.

I just read the IRIS complaint I sent them- I do not mince words-

I am sure it will spoil some holidays at my RO- I dont care -they spoiled many of mine, and eradicated all of my husband's holidays by  piss poor VA health care.

They even set him a reduction notice, he got it  Christmas eve 1988, (he threw the Tree out the front door)that since he had such a wonderful job at the VAMC ( it was a crap job the director had to gve him due to a discrimination case we were going to file against them)- he was a qualified fireman , PHVAC operator and former Nuclear Power plant Operator and had been in Voc Rehab for one semester- and per VA he practically had turned into a rocket scientist and with the crap VA job and ONE semester of college -they prop0sed to reduce his 30% PTSD to 10%. I wrote a scathing NOD and they dropped that BS.

Oddly enough the malpractice at VA on him had already begun.August 13, 1988.

They awarded him 100% SC for PTSD posthumously 1997 -with an EED of Nov 1991, but they could have done that in his lifetime.They had the evidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2018 by Berta