Back pay timeframe after winning appeal?

[Backpay]

Hello,

Dec 5th I won 2 parts to my appeal and had 1 remanded. 1 of the disabilities awarded is tinnitus. On the VA.gov website it says that it should take 1 to 2 months for the new disability rating to be reflected. It's been over 2 months and nothing. I called the national number and they could only say it was at my RO (that was a month ago) , I contacted my VSO who didn't know anything either. How long does it normally take? I'm going to be out of work for 4 to 6 weeks because of surgery that I have next week.

 

Thanks

[Backpay]

8 hours ago, GBArmy said:

I am not aware of any time limits on remand decisions but if you go to their web site, https://www.bva.va.gov/ , there is a tab to contact and also to ask questions. If you find out anything, I'm sure we would like to hear it.Good luck.

If I find out anything good I'll definitely update everyone here. Personally I found the following interesting.

Let's break down my situation to basic terms. I was granted service connection for 2 disabilities. 1 for tinnitus which is 10% rating no matter what. The other for tenosynovitis which would require them to look at the evidence they already have in their possession.

The remanded issue is because the examiner didn't get all the info they were supposed (this is for an increase in an established SC disability because I disagreed with initial rating) and the judge said the RO didn't bother to look at relevant medical records from a 2 year period.

These are some interesting facts though when considering the above.

According to the VA in December the average time for a decision on a new claim was 82.4 days. That includes getting all the evidence, reviewing it, deciding if it's service connected, and at what rating. 

https://www.va.gov/disability/after-you-file-claim/

Personally I'm inclined to believe that it's so fast for new claims because like my remanded issue they don't do what their supposed to and deny claims to make those wait times look better. But let's say they are doing things properly for the sake of everything.

83 days after RO received order from BVA to grant me 2 SC disabilities will be February 26th. So why when most of the work is already done is it taking that long to get my rating? Again VA website said I should expect it in 1 to 2 months.

 

The VA also claims to decide claims for increases in disability if you file decision ready claim and work with veteran service organization within 30 days. 

I have a VSO representing me and essentially the BVA gave me service connection so the VA is just processing an increase and according to person I spoke with on phone my case has been in decision ready status since December 5th.

I definitely feel like I'm finding more and more information to use to speed this up especially if I call congressman.

[GBArmy]

The AMA implementation has speeded up "average" claims considerably, but I am no so sure about the approval rates improving. But we are so used to delays in the process for so many reasons that most of us are not surprised it takes 3 months for a remand to be implemented. Getting a congressman involved may work because they can cause a lot of unneeded attention to a VA RO which is not desirable for the head honcho and just might grease the skids a little. Hope it work for you.

[vetquest]

As for how long it takes, it is a crapshoot.  I had a ED fully developed claim under the AMA that took 13 months.  It depends on the complexity, RO, work que, and how the rater is feeling on a given day.  If it is a BVA remand they are most likely holding up backpay until the remand is done, they are not supposed to but they get away with it so they do.  The VA is not your friend and cares only about their appearances.  Yes, if you can find a congressman interested it might help but not always.

[Backpay]

26 minutes ago, vetquest said:

As for how long it takes, it is a crapshoot.  I had a ED fully developed claim under the AMA that took 13 months.  It depends on the complexity, RO, work que, and how the rater is feeling on a given day.  If it is a BVA remand they are most likely holding up backpay until the remand is done, they are not supposed to but they get away with it so they do.  The VA is not your friend and cares only about their appearances.  Yes, if you can find a congressman interested it might help but not always.

Like I said I'll keep updating this thread throughout my journey so that it may help someone else. 

I sent the about info last night to my VSO and they called me this morning but I was sleeping. Waiting on another call back from them.

But here is a new question. So if the DRC takes 30 days if I filed it today would that mean they would deny it because they would see my file and have to approve the grant from BVA so my fast track claim would be moot? 

[Backpay]

So I'm finding more and more info that I feel will help.

See the following which is found in federal regulations regarding adjudication of claims.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=549cda86648188a6a068def5530850c9&rgn=div5&view=text&node=38:1.0.1.1.4&idno=38

§3.2502   Return by higher-level adjudicator or remand by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Upon receipt of a returned claim from a higher-level adjudicator or remand by the Board of Veterans' Appeals, the agency of original jurisdiction will expeditiously readjudicate the claim in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 5109B. The agency of original jurisdiction retains jurisdiction of the claim. In readjudicating the claim, the agency of original jurisidction will correct all identified duty to assist errors, complete a new decision and issue notice to the claimant and or his or her legal representative in accordance with 3.103(f). The effective date of any evaluation and award of pension, compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation will be determined in accordance with the date of receipt of the initial claim as prescribed under §3.2500(g).

 

[84 FR 172, Jan. 18, 2019]

 

i then searched all of the sections under adjudication and found that the word expeditiously is only used twice. Both times regarding how the VA must handle claims sent back to them from a higher authority.

why is that important? It shows that regulations require they be handled faster then a standard claim. So I definitely should have received my rating and back pay by now.

 

so I guess I could also go the route of inspector general now since I have reason to believe federal regulations are not being followed.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Backpay
Add link to regulation

[Backpay]

Called Peggy with questions on regulations who said I had to escalate it and suggested white house hotline. Called them and got conflicting information. 

Basically I was told they don't give estimates but estimates given on website are based data such as claims, information they have, workload etc. But they are just estimates. He couldn't help me but I also mentioned that if they have data they use to give those estimates on website then it would be crazy to think it should take double the higher estimated timeframe.

 

Also said that appeal grants are treated totally different and in seperate pile for handling then new claims which again seems crazy if appeals once given back to the RO are supposed to be handled expeditiously. He said I may have different interpretation of expeditiously and I just said to me expeditiously should mean faster then the standard claims. 

 

So to me personally it seems like the VA is playing games with optics and timeframes to make themselves look better. 

So the fight continues, at this point since I tried handling it on the lower levels I'm going to prepare letter for my congressman and for the office of inspector general as well as see if there is an investigative reporter who would like to do a story not on me but on these "estimated timelines" and possible regulation violations.