Originally posted by Modok
Originally posted by cdcollins
Originally posted by Jonny Chimpo
make sure you reject the first offer they give you
they will send you another higher offer with out looking into your case
i learned this after the year for appeal was up
so i had to put everything back in and started all over
as for dolfan
if we all ignore him he will go away
JC is exactly right, and I speak from the lawyer side of this equation.
The claims board has the #1 priority of efficiency. Not giving each veteran their fair claim, but cold-hearted efficiency. The claims representatives are there to process as many claims as possible, and they're going to give an offer with the hopes that you'll accept and go away, making their lives easier. If you reject, they'll generally send you a better one the second time around. If you reject that, it's common that litigation will ensue.
My grandfather spent 18 years fighting for disability claims from where he fell down a flight of stairs in Germany in 1959. He rejected both offers, which were only 4-figures. There was NASTY litigation there, and the claims office pulled every single lawyering trick to delay the trial or to get him to go away. They requested all sorts of humilating medical procedures, about 80% of which had no bearing on back injuries. When my grandfather went through them (the ones pertinent to back problems, of course, showed a disabling back injury), they filed several motions for continuances back to back, and were all granted. After this, they tried claiming that a records fire in St. Louis in 1980 destroyed all his records and that they couldn't grant his request based on the lack of records. My grandfather appealed this ruling twice, until he was FINALLY granted relief in 2004 by the highest ruling body for veterans' claims.
Needless to say, the average procedural history in a court case is 2-3 paragraphs long. I have a copy of my grandfather's case, and it's literally TWO COLUMNS long. That's about 6-8 times a normal procedural history.
On the flip side, my dad was in the Navy during Vietnam, and he suffered a bit of PTSD. He took 10%, which was the first offer they made. Still earns it.
In short, if you have the resources to fight it after a second denial, keep at it. But they will pull out all the stops to keep you from having it.
Thats a damn shame Chase. Someone that defended this country and gave the ability for my son to lay his head to pillow every night without worry of harm, should be treated witht he up most respect. Your Grandfather and Father are hero's in my book.
I appreciate the kind words, and they are in mine, as well. It's a shame my grandfather couldn't serve out the remainder of his time. Got a medical (but an honorable) discharge after the accident. It's a good thing for my sake, as he had my mother in 1961, and that's when he'd be finishing up his service were he still in Germany.
