tdiu Already 100% Tdiu With New 60% Increase Added....

[ammawa]

Hi all, I got a question: I'm already 100 TDIU, I just got an decision from the Board in DC giving me and increase in my back SC disability from 40% to 60% and the effective date is March 18, 1993.

My question is will the back pay and the fact that I'm drawing 100% anyway... offset in anyway... This is the first time I have actually gotten an increase since being awarded 100% in 2005

[theotherguy]

ammawa,

A couple of questions would help me answer yours and maybe expand a little about potential entitlements.

1. When did you become schedularly eligible to receive IU? Was there an increase in compensation that made you initially eligible for the first time in 2005?

2. Were you still working on March 1993? If so, what date did you stop working?

There are a lot of factors here, but you may be entitled to an earlier effective date on your individual unemployability benefit based on your new decision. The primary factors are when you first became schedularly entitled to apply for the benefit, when you stopped working, whether or not VA properly notified you about potential entitlement to unemployability benefits when you became schedularly eligible for the benefit, and lastly...whether or not you filed for consideration of the benefit within one year of when you initially became schedularly eligible for the benefit.

As far as the retroactive benefits you'll receive as a result of the recent decision, you will receive the difference of the service-connected compensation rates from March 1993 until your unemployability benefits were established in 2005. If you have no other service-connected disabilities, you would receive the difference between 40% and 60% for the specified time period. Obviously, this would change if there were other service-connected disabilities which would influence your combined evaluation.

There may be historical rate charts online somewhere that you could use to come up with an estimate of what retroactive benefit you will receive.

Hope this helps :)

[ammawa]

Right now I am 80% being paid 100% TDIU. I first put my claim in for Unemployability in Aug 1993 that's when I stopped working. and went to VA Vocal Rehab for 4 years.

Right now I'm 50% for mood disorder, 40% for Back strain, 10% for incomplete paralasisl left leg and 10% for incomplete paralasis right leg and 10% for right knee.

The current decision will take my back SC disability to 60%.

Back in 1993, i asked for and incress for my back.... I also put my claim in fro IU in aug. of 93.

Back them you had to have atleast one disability rated at 6o% to be considered for IU. Now that I've been awarded 60% all the way back to 93 my claim is still inline for IU in 1993

Hope this makes since...But I figured they would pay retro back until my date of IU which is Jan.

2005 That's still 12 years Does anyone know what that new increase will do to my 80% of course I'm being paid at 100%.

ammawa,

A couple of questions would help me answer yours and maybe expand a little about potential entitlements.

1. When did you become schedularly eligible to receive IU? Was there an increase in compensation that made you initially eligible for the first time in 2005?

2. Were you still working on March 1993? If so, what date did you stop working?

There are a lot of factors here, but you may be entitled to an earlier effective date on your individual unemployability benefit based on your new decision. The primary factors are when you first became schedularly entitled to apply for the benefit, when you stopped working, whether or not VA properly notified you about potential entitlement to unemployability benefits when you became schedularly eligible for the benefit, and lastly...whether or not you filed for consideration of the benefit within one year of when you initially became schedularly eligible for the benefit.

As far as the retroactive benefits you'll receive as a result of the recent decision, you will receive the difference of the service-connected compensation rates from March 1993 until your unemployability benefits were established in 2005. If you have no other service-connected disabilities, you would receive the difference between 40% and 60% for the specified time period. Obviously, this would change if there were other service-connected disabilities which would influence your combined evaluation.

There may be historical rate charts online somewhere that you could use to come up with an estimate of what retroactive benefit you will receive.

Hope this helps :)

[theotherguy]

So you were denied in August of 1993 and the benefit was denied. What was the basis of the denial? Was this issue also continued under appeal?

If the basis of the denial was that you were not schedulary eligible for the benefit because your disability was not rated high enough...you certainly would have a case for earlier effective date. Obviously we can't say this definitively without having a chance to look at the evidence in your file...but the only hiccup that I can think of off the top of my head would be what disability your IU was based upon. If the mental disorder played a significant role in this grant, it could possibly influence their ability to go all the way back.

Using the percentages you have provided and with the bilateral factor included, it looks to me like you're current combined total would be 84 and your evaluation would round down to remain at 80%. This was completed free hand...so someone with access to a disability calculator should verify 60+50=80 and 80+21= 84...I believe that is correct but you can verify it if you like.