To "RAMP" or not to "RAMP"

[broncovet]

As many may know, Congress has passed new legislation which essentially requires VA to cut down on appeal backlog.  This plan is known as "RAMP".  

Currently, only Veterans who ARE INVITED by VA can elect to go with RAMP.  Im not sure it will do much good to write to VA and tell them you want RAMP, tho its POSSIBLE that VA may grant this request.  

A well known law firm has published some credible, and valuable information on RAMP.  If offered a chance to "RAMP" through a VA letter, its probably a good idea to:

1.  Just do it and go for RAMP.

2.  At least read the following before declining ramp, and discuss this with your representative.  

https://cck-law.com/news/news-cck-live-revisiting-ramp/

MY summary:

    UNLESS you have a compelling reason, opt "in" for RAMP.  

    CCK says you should not do RAMP if any of these would harm your claim:

However, veterans should fully consider that participating in RAMP means:

• not being able to appeal to the Board until at least February 2019.
• not being able to take their claim directly to the Board of Veterans Appeals.
• never going back to the legacy appeals process.

 

 

[AprilNC]

 I called the ebenefits lines Thursday according to them John's opt in letter was received on may 10 but has not been scanned in and processed yet. The rep said it takes 30 days for them to get the info put in the system. Plus side of phone call she did state the VA has everything they were looking for for John's remand and his file is in the ready to work stage according to her that means it needs a someone to sign off on it ...lol on Vets.gov they have that little timeline thing at the bottom showing how many appeals are in front of yours 17,101  to be processed before John's and if that thing is just an estimate they are only processing about 250 a week or 1000 a month..so it would take another 17+ months for his appeal to reach the front of the line. I plan to check back on June 12 to see if it has indeed been moved to ramp. I'll up as I get info..lets see if 125 days is accurate.

 

[AprilNC]

On ‎5‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 5:17 PM, broncovet said:

April:

    You can fire the attorney.  However, I think that attorney's want to get paid as bad as we do, and sooner is better when it comes to paydays for the attorney or us.  

    Of course, I dont know what is going on with your attorney, but my attorney does "not" want me filing paperwork..at least not without consulting him first.  Something not quite right is going on there.  Have you discussed this issue with your attorney??  

      Even if we fire the attorney from what I read he is still eligible to receive part of John's award. As for forms I called the attorney we went over the notice he received in September and yes the attorney told me to fill out the TDIU paperwork and submit it. I got everything together and submitted it via ebenefits. 

[paulcolrain]

this whole ramp thing scares me. i feel like the va is forcing me to get into it... i applied for and was granted advancement on docket in 2017... 2 issues granted 4 issues remanded... so now im wondering if they want me to ramp my remand???? like why should i if i was already granted advancement ,,,, or are they saying that i have to re apply for advancement on the remand like ???? this whole thing is bothersome.
 

[broncovet]

I will take the "FEAR of the UNKNOWN" for a year with RAMP  vs the "FEAR of the UNKNOWN" for 5 years with the legacy process anytime.  

[Wayne TX]

I agree with you Bronco........I have been sitting over 2 years in Legacy now and based on the fact they're still working on 2014 claims I can see another two years of waiting very easily.......no I will take my chances with RAMP.......they may even take longer than 125 days but that still beats a guaranteed 2 and possibly 3 years stuck in legacy backlog. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Wayne TX

[broncovet]

Well, yes.  If you get fired from a job, and you worked a week since payday, you still should get paid for that week you worked before getting fired.  The attorney, also, deserves to get paid for the work he did on your claim before you fired him.  He will likely submit a "bill" to the VA, and, at the CAVC, the judge approves or denies the Vets attorney fees. 

    If you fire the attorney, its probably gonna cost you money, and you should not fire him UNLESS there is a compelling reason.  

    The attorney works the claim and often you dont even know it, as they often dont "hold your hand" and tell you things like:

   

Quote

  I received your cfile last week, and read that over.  It was 1500 pages long so it took me 8 hours just to read it.  Im researching case law to decide the best arguement to present for you.

      This type of communication probably isnt going to be productive.  He does not want to get in an arguement with you about how long it took him to read your file.  If you win, he bills the EAJA for his time, which is approved by the court.    The court probably has a "flat rate".  You know, if you take your car to the mechanic, and ask for a price, they quote you the price of the starter, and the flat rate for labor.   (The time the book says it takes a mechanic to remove and replace your starter).   

       If the "flat rate" for the starter is 1.5 hours, then that is what the mechanic gets paid.  If it takes him 3 hours, he gets paid for 1.5 hours.  If it takes him 45 minutes, he gets paid for 1.5 hours, as the mechanics mostly work on the "flat rate" and the good ones try to beat it, that is to compete the job faster than what the book says.  

       The attorney works on a similar principal.