claim denied need advice..

Darksaga · Post by **Darksaga** » November 6th, 2006, 7:10 pm

You have time to appeal. In fact they should have mailed an appeal rights form along with the letter.

I would suggest taking the case to one of your local service organizations so they can advocate on your behalf.

In the meantime see the docs about your conditions. That way you can build your evidence.

SkyShark · Post by **SkyShark** » November 6th, 2006, 8:02 pm

I got denied the first two times, for the reason lack of evidence. Sure as shit, I found an old letter that I wrote home to mom. She kept all the letters. I submitted the letter that was still in the envelope with the post mark date on it and was approved at 50%.

I suggest having the DAV represent you, they do a great job.

SkyShark · Post by **SkyShark** » November 7th, 2006, 10:26 am

Remember it can take a while in some cases. Mine took 4 years. However, getting the 4 years of back pay when it was all said and done was nice. Good Luck.

Cat · Post by **Cat** » November 7th, 2006, 10:50 am

I joined the DAV to help with my case. I had to sign a power of attorney for them to look at my records etc. They are always good at helping veterans, in my opinion. I'm not located near the VA so having them available to go down and look at things was a big help.

EvilCouch · Post by **EvilCouch** » November 8th, 2006, 12:07 am

SkyShark wrote:I got denied the first two times, for the reason lack of evidence. Sure as shit, I found an old letter that I wrote home to mom. She kept all the letters. I submitted the letter that was still in the envelope with the post mark date on it and was approved at 50%.

I suggest having the DAV represent you, they do a great job.

I fully agree.

Having the DAV represent you helps out a great deal. I was honestly expecting to get 0% or getting my claim rejected, but I wound up with 20%.

Darksaga · Post by **Darksaga** » November 11th, 2006, 3:25 pm

I was thinking about this and realized something. They may have denied you for lack of evidence because they couldn't find the basis for the claim in the medical records. I owul dsuggest taking your copy and finding those pages specific to your situation, sopy them, highlight the pertinent areas, and submit them as part of your appeal packet.

Rangerguru · Post by **Rangerguru** » December 6th, 2006, 8:38 pm

I would also recomend talking to the DAV. You will find that th VA takes their time, I submitted an appeal 22nov05 and it's still being processed, but I have submitted appeals before and they do work, it just takes time and alot of patience.

fireranger · Post by **fireranger** » December 7th, 2006, 12:38 pm

+1 on the DAV.

Also, educate yourself as much as possible on the process and your rights - while the DAV is helpful, you are at the mercy of your service officer (SO).

Send all correspondence certified mail with return receipt - that has saved my ass on a submission dealine.

Be prepared to wait a long time, but be persistent.

coldsteal2 · Post by **coldsteal2** » December 18th, 2006, 4:29 am

Cat wrote:I joined the DAV to help with my case. I had to sign a power of attorney for them to look at my records etc. They are always good at helping veterans, in my opinion. I'm not located near the VA so having them available to go down and look at things was a big help.

I joined the DAV and they did the apeal and i got mine with
back pay after just 8 months, everyone is turned down
the first time, its just the way its run, thats thier way of
seeing if someone is serious or not, like everything in life
you got to work for it i guess. The same with SSDI, you will
get turned down for that the first time to, then you get a SS lawyer
that will only take a small fee, and he will also get you your
back pay.
I was out in April and got my first checks from both the VA
and Social Security Disablity in late December with back pay.
They even backed my pay up to the day i became disabled
while i was still in the Service. which was over a year back
pay. But that first year is a bitch trying to make it, especialy
if you really are disabled, i had to move in with my parents
for that whole period, at age 37 pretty embarassing.
I was lucky there were 12 other guys in my Medical Hold company
that only three of us had a home to return to.
The Governement really needs to fix that hole between discharge
and your first checks from the VA and SSDI. Thats how guys
end up homeless.

PS if there are others being outprocessed because of
wounds and or injuries/ sickness, dont take the Army Retirement,
if you do you will get much much less than the VA Pension and SSDI
combined. There is another Retirement that gives a one time pay
thats a better one but they dont offer that very often, it all depends
on your time in service.

yea i have been there you can tell hahah
Good Luck and just like in the service DONT GIVE UP
they are counting on you giving up.

coldsteal2 · Post by **coldsteal2** » December 18th, 2006, 4:35 am

Darksaga wrote:I was thinking about this and realized something. They may have denied you for lack of evidence because they couldn't find the basis for the claim in the medical records. I owul dsuggest taking your copy and finding those pages specific to your situation, sopy them, highlight the pertinent areas, and submit them as part of your appeal packet.

yes you need a full copy of your military medical records or you
are in for a big problem thats something your Medical Outprocessing
officer is SUPOSED to take care of at your Army Hospital.
Dont take you discharge till you get a copy or you will never get one.
There are people that does that for a job, just copying records
all day. Its one of the jobs they stuck me with at Madigan Army
Hospital before i was outprocessed.
Also, make sure you go to a Major VA Hospital for the initial
full physical, they hire civilian doctors to do them, and they are
much better for your case than a VA doc.

again join the DAV

coldsteal2 · Post by **coldsteal2** » December 18th, 2006, 4:37 am

SkyShark wrote:Remember it can take a while in some cases. Mine took 4 years. However, getting the 4 years of back pay when it was all said and done was nice. Good Luck.

4 years back pay.............PARTY!!!
nice!