Supplemental Claim

[deedub75]

I am at a complete loss here.  I submitted a supplemental claim in 2/3/2020 for where I claimed my back and both knees secondary to bilateral pes planus and right ankle injury.  The claim moved quickly and I had C&P exams on 3/13/2020.  I checked on eBenefits today and saw that they granted back and both knees and even added 4 more contentions that I had not claimed.  However, they made 2/3/2020 the effective date for all contentions which completely defeats the purpose of getting earlier effective dates for all my percentages.  I called DAV and they told me that they indeed finalized the claimed with 2/3/2020 as the effective date.  

These claims go back as far as around 2011 or 2012 and it ended up in appeal on 2013.  I had a DRO review it and it was denied again in 2014 so I sent it to BVA where it sat there until they were remanded in 2017.  I asked for a HLR in RAMP because I didn't want to wait for legacy BVA.  It was denied again in July 2019 and so I got a nexus letter from my personal ortho doctor and send it in as a supplemental claim in Feb 2020.  So I've basically kept these claims open since at least 2012.  I have no idea why in the world they would put my effective date as 2/3/2020 on the date they received my supplemental claim.  DAV says I should just send it directly to BVA and and ask for earlier effective date and they will sort it out.  They said if I send it for a HLR they will just regurgitate the same info and leave the date the same.

What say you?

[deedub75]

On 3/18/2020 at 7:01 PM, pete992 said:

Yes, I agree. After my claim was remanded by CAVC, BVA granted it and remanded it back to the VARO who not only low balled my rating but screwed up my effective date. I finally won my rating but not my effective date so my claim went back to BVA and finally won my EED from my original claim.

It's sad the we have to go through all of this just to get a correct decision.  To know that you've fought and waited for years of claims, denials, appeals, remands, more denials and finally an approval only to have that approval be stamped with the incorrect date.  

I can honestly say that when I worked for the VA processing claims, we didn't intentionally try to screw any veterans over.  Unfortunately, with the huge backlog they are pushing claims through so fast that mistakes are being made.  Unless the processors are new employees, there is no one checking their work before it is finalized. And once the mistake laden claim is completed, it leaves veterans with no recourse other than to file appeals.  If you have a VSO, there used to be like a 48 hour grace period once a claim is completed and that time was for the VSO to review it.  The VSO oftentimes just stamped it and sent it thorough.  I remember sometimes they would have us walk over to the VSO office after we finalized a claim to have them basically waive the 48 hour grace period.  

[Guest]

3 hours ago, deedub75 said:

It's sad the we have to go through all of this just to get a correct decision.  To know that you've fought and waited for years of claims, denials, appeals, remands, more denials and finally an approval only to have that approval be stamped with the incorrect date.  

OK, I did have a VSO. I had to fire him after a few years because it felt like he was a part of VA.  He even told me to drop my claim. I decided to fire him and go on myself.  Now I did get a lawyer for CAVC and he and VA lawyers agreed that my claim should be service connected. So my claim was remanded and he was gone. The rest was BVA granting my claim and my VARO low balling my claim due to the fact that I was already 100%.  Even being rated 100% scheduler, there was the retro/back pay that was very interesting to me.

3 hours ago, deedub75 said:

I can honestly say that when I worked for the VA processing claims, we didn't intentionally try to screw any veterans over.  Unfortunately, with the huge backlog they are pushing claims through so fast that mistakes are being made.  Unless the processors are new employees, there is no one checking their work before it is finalized. And once the mistake laden claim is completed, it leaves veterans with no recourse other than to file appeals.  If you have a VSO, there used to be like a 48 hour grace period once a claim is completed and that time was for the VSO to review it.  The VSO oftentimes just stamped it and sent it thorough.  I remember sometimes they would have us walk over to the VSO office after we finalized a claim to have them basically waive the 48 hour grace period.  

I don't know when or how long you worked for the VARO but remember all those employee's contracts you signed to keep your employment and to agree and go alone with whatever your coach/supervisor/management decided. I have seen the whole picture. I will admit that there was a mistake in my claim but no one wanted to correct it.  Even before my claim went to CAVC, I knew it was military related by all of the evidence I had in my military records and my post military records at the VAMC. I may be stupid but I am not that stupid. What really got under my skin to make me fight so much was an individual at the VARO that lied and I know they lied straight to my face to discourage me. I even think this individual removed documents from my file but they were too late because I already had a copy of my file completely date stamped. When I filed my claims I always made copies from my personal copy and submitted them as evidence. Evidence don't lie and continuity will kill any negative report. I could go on but I guess the bottom line is get mad, get really mad and then channel that negative energy into a positive energy and fight for what you think is right. I always did like the underdog.

[Kuwaitin08]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I had to submit a supplemental claim again to get the correct effective date for retroactive pay. I had to write a complete outline to show how they made a mistake.

Good luck! It will take a month or two but they'll fix it.

[deedub75]

On 3/20/2020 at 11:07 AM, Kuwaitin08 said:

I had a similar thing happen to me. I had to submit a supplemental claim again to get the correct effective date for retroactive pay. I had to write a complete outline to show how they made a mistake.

Good luck! It will take a month or two but they'll fix it.

That's good to know.  I've been going through my records trying to figure out the best way to go about fixing this.

[Kuwaitin08]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2020 at 9:15 PM, deedub75 said:

That's good to know.  I've been going through my records trying to figure out the best way to go about fixing this.

You could submit a new supplemental claim with the evidence and outline to settle it or you could submit a CUE (Clear Undeniable Error). Berta could assist with a CUE.

Keep us up to speed on how it goes.

[deedub75]

20 minutes ago, Kuwaitin08 said:

You could submit a new supplemental claim with the evidence and outline to settle it or you could submit a CUE (Clear Undeniable Error). Berta could assist with a CUE.

Keep us up to speed on how it goes.

I haven't even gotten the award letter from the VA yet!  I'm gonna go with the supplemental but I wish I could submit a higher level review with my evidence but that's not allowed.  The HLR would go to a DRO and the supplemental would go to a lesser experience rater.