"Awaiting Adjudication"

[Kihr]

I submitted my claim 9/24, I had the C&P exams on 11/6, and I am still waiting.  I talked to my VSO today and she said I was "Awaiting adjudication" and that it could be several more months and I may need more exams.  I know the VA is a long process, but it has been 10 months already and I am not sure what "awaiting adjudication" means.  The VSO seemed a little annoyed, I call about 1 time a month, it just is frustrating.  I don't know why a claim should take 10 months, I know I have read about appeals taking years so I shouldn't complain.  I just feel that 10 months is an unreasonable amount of time to be "months away"  

[brokensoldier244th]

I guess the short answer is that, dependent on what regional office you work through, there may be a 100,000 veterans in your proximity that work through that RO. I live in Lincoln, NE, so our RO only services part of NE, Iowa, and maybe KS- im not sure, but its way less than someone living in FLA, or on the coasts, or in TX, for example. Sure, they could hire more people, and they do, but VA budgets are discretionary not guaranteed line items like Defense or other things, so they don't know from fiscal year to the next what they are going to be working with. Pair that with millions of vets, old and new, courtesy of *pick President* in the last 20 yrs or so and our involvement in *opinion* places and things that we probably don't really need to be involved in, and you have a huge influx of new vets added to the already existing caseloads of older vets. Many of the older ones have paper only records that have been shuffled to hell and back, and main document depositories like St. Louis that can't seem to find anything, and your answer is somewhere in all that. If its awaiting adjudication (is that exactly what it says? Ive not seen that as a status before) then it should be in line for a rater. 

[paulstrgn]

You can also call the White House at 855-948-2311 and ask for an update, tell them how long it's been. They will check on the status for you and let you know.

Also does VA.gov tell you when the case is expected to be completed? There should be a date range.

Here in VA cases seem to go quicker.

Good luck

[vetquest]

I think the time for claims should be shorter, I think the cause for the backlog is improperly adjudicated claims.  The way they are supposed to do the claims is described by asknod of a national que and any RO can pick up a case if they are available.  We would all be better off if the rater would read the record before making a decision.

[paulstrgn]

I am not sure why your date keeps moving. Does it show a different status?

You won't see a bump in pay for dependents until you reach 30% or higher. I found the VA to be slow when I updated my beneficiary. I find my dates bounce a lot also just depending on the status. It is frustrating to say the least. 

Call the White House hotline (they are 24/7) and ask for a status update. 

[paulstrgn]

@Kihr I understand when you say you feel like a complainer by calling. Just remember it's your claim, you are not asking for anything special. You just want to know what is happening to it and why is it taking so long. I have called the White House hotline several times, I have even emailed the RO director when my case fell off the tracks, she had someone from the RO call me and has been in contact with me ever since. He actually gave me his phone number. I have even emailed the Chief of Staff for the VA about my appeal that seemed to be stuck in FOIA, I received an email from the Chairman of the Board that day letting me know it was given to a judge. The appeal was completed less than two weeks later. So yes I believe in calling to make sure my case stays on track.

I waited 20 years to file my first VA claim, so it is never to late to file.

[Berta]

The White House Hot line # is 1-855-948-2311

I have made 3 WH complaints.

One referred me to a VHA idiot-I got that issue straightened out myself.

One referred me to the VA Accountability Office- I am satisfied- to a degree -with that result.

My evidence went to the  Senate and they proposed a bill. But I had to write to them to correct it- if they will......

The third complaint was Wednesday. It was the only complaint I had that directly affects my pending claims.

I was number  1,271,859- over a million hot line veteran issue calls.

You have to be prepared to state your issue carefully.In my case I named two VARO employees who again have violated my rights.One is the director of my VARO.

Survivors of veterans fall under the new form requirements.,for DIC, accrued, last expense of the deceased etc,etc,

My VARO sent the Minnesota RO a copy of my last CUE claim, but forgot I have 3 CUE claims pending, Also they sent (Ironically) my prime legal evidence but failed to send the other key evidence that supports the claims.

They( my VARO)  never sent three 21-4138s I filed either to explain those CUEs.

I needed to order lots of PC ink today and it ill take me time to copy everything all over again and mail it with the 21P-601 new accrued benefit form.

I have had multiple other claims issues with VA since 1995.The past claims  have all been granted but all of them involved the Buffalo VA failing to consider my most probative evidence.

None of us should have these consistent battles, but without fighting back, you get no where.

If the VA fails to consider your probative evidence, it is easy for them to deny the claim and get it off their desk.

But if that evidence is truly probative, meaning it is critical to a proper decision, you MUST file a CUE under 38 CFR 4.6 right away.

It is disheartening to read many BVA decisions whereby the BVA is the first VA entity to find evidence that the RO ignored.What is really upsetting is the BVA might be the first VA entity to read a costly IMO/IME, with a full medical rationale that awards the claim,  that your RO deliberately avoided considering it at all- to deny the claim as fast as they could.

The ROs pull this BS with your SMRs as well-----no one is going to read your SMRs as carefully as you can.

38 CFR 4.6 is explained the CUE forum with templates.

Maybe you should make sure your spouses understand that regulation, as I find it hard to believe that only my VARO cannot read survivors claims and the evidence they send to support their claims.