Can Raters Call the Veteran?

[Buck52]

Question

Can a Rater call the Veteran if he/she has a question about your claim?

I realize they can call your VA Rep Attorney or VA Claims Agent.

but are they not Allowed to call the Veteran himself direct?

I know they can talk to the Veteran if a Veteran has a DRO Hearing and is present at the hearing, the rater talk to me at my DRO Hearing ask me some questions  ect,,,ect,,,  

So my question is why do they call the Veteran Reps and not the Veteran.?

reason I ask this is  some raters do call the veterans rep and the rep may not know the answer and tell the rater I'm am not sure at this time let me check with my vet and get back to you..well all this does is cause confusement ,what if the veteran rep forgets to ask his vet ? or just don't have a good Rep.

so  can the Veteran call the rater to answer the raters question.???

The Rater should just call the Veteran direct  save a lot  a lot of time.

I know when I talk to my Rating specialist  it helped my claim tremendously.

You can explain all about your C&P if you think you had a bad c &p exam  or any questions the Rater will ask you.   you may get another c&p ...Or the rater will take your word on what all happen  ect,,,ect,, either way its not a denial  its a second chance.  as long as you can back up what you say  your rater will take that into consideration.

[Buck52]

One of my reasons for asking  I was going over my 2002 award when I had a DRO Hearing about an appeal for reduction from  S.C. @50% back to 0% although veteran will keep his S.C.

 So I requested a DRO Hearing in person and a rating specialist that was working my appeal was present and she did ask me some questions ..

also this is in my award letter the DRO Wrote up on approving my claim he mention to in the award letter  ''with a DRO AND A Rating Specialist present at this Veterans hearing  it is for certain with this veteran medical evidence on record that his disability is real and an increase is warranted instead of  decrease in his benefits.''

I got the TDIU P&T Using the 4.16 (b) at 90%  the DRO AND THE RATING SPECIALIST  kept me at the 50% NO REDUCTION WILL TAKE PLACE and then after looking at my medical records and seeing me in person talking with me  ect,,ect,,,,

 They GAVE ME AN 10% INCREASE WHICH WAS TINNITUS AND A 30 % & INCREASE ON MY  S.C. Condition AT 90% COMBINED   ...THEY EXPEDITED  MY CLAIM THAT DAY AND  BENEFITS SOUGHT UPON THIS DATE. 2/ 5/2002

What a Releif  this was...I just could not think we were so happy after fighting this since 1998.

I wish I had known then what I know now..I would have went for the 100%scheduler...but years later I finally got that and a couple of SMC with it.

So it sure helps when the veteran can talk person to person with these raters.

things change when they see your disability up front and close...vs just reading medical records & Drs Reports.

jmo