Back pay amount in VA Disability Claims (General) Forum

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Back pay amount

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Mayna	Back pay amount		Lead	[-]
Posts: 21 Oct 7 09 4:56 PM	Tags : pay My rating was recently increased from 30% to 60%. The VA just deposited $9,063.00 into my checking acct. for 13 months back pay. I was always under the understanding that I should have received a total of $13,382 ($1,064 X 13 months). According to the '08 disability ratings table, a married veteran with a 60% rating gets $1,064 per month. I called the VA's 800 # and was told that the $1,064 figure is what it will be in 2014 when the disability raises max. out. If that's the case, why do they come up with a new table every year reflecting increased pay? The VA rep. also told me that they take the $1,064 per month figure and throw it into a complicated formula which he doesn't understand. He said the formula greatly reduces the amount of back pay and according to his rough calculations and understanding of the formula, I should only be getting around $450 per month, then it will increase every year until 2014 when I will get the full amount of $1,064 per month. Does anyone know the correct, legal way that the VA calculates back pay? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Secondly, I filed a claim with the VRO 6 months before retirement. I sent it certified, return receipt and still have the receipt. I never hear back from them so I inquired and they had no record of receiving my claim. I did this a second time and have that signed receipt also, showing a VA rep receiving my application and second set of med. records via UPS. Never heard back so I inquired again. They said they had no record of receiving my claim or either set of med. records. I that point I contacted my congressman and they finally acknowledged receiving my third claim and third set of med. records. I can't remember the date off-hand when I sent the third claim and set of med. records and am out of town but I know I have the certified return receipt at home. The VA sent me a letter at my original 30% rating stating they received my claim on August 3, 2008. I retired July 31, 2008 @ 2400. They will only award me benefits back to Sep 1,2008 because they lost the first two claims and are saying they got the third claim on August 3, therefore they bump it up to the first of the next month. Does anyone think it's worth the hassle fighting them over the month they "cheated" me on? Does anyone know how to go about it? My A.L. rep. has been useleless in this manner and doesn't return phone calls or emails. I've since hired a lawyer but this is his first VA case and we're both researching how much money they owe me and how to best fight them on the month of August '08 back pay they owe me as they lost the first two claims. Thanks for any assistance someone may provide as I know some of you know this process well.
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Stillhere		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 6639 Oct 7 09 5:00 PM	You can always ask the VA for an Audit of your account and they are supposed to give you one showing everything. As far as trying to get your month that you say they owe you depends how bad you need the money I guess??
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SteamJockey		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 7748 Oct 7 09 6:37 PM	It seems to me, the effective date of your initial claim if filed within one year of your retirement should be the date of retirement regardless of when it was filed. The law says you should receive pay starting the first day of the month following the effective date. In your case, 1 Aug o8. I might make an inquiry but I don't think I'd get my panties in a wad over 1 month either unless I had nothing better to do I looked at the the backpay on the 30-60% upgrade and how the numbers work out under CRDP and the numbers don't make sense to me I'd recommend you post something in the CRDP forum. Perhaps someone else has a better idea. Regards; SteamJockey, resident curmudgeon 50 years service to the Navy and the nation.
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hutsky		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2782 Oct 8 09 12:51 AM	In all likelihood you have already received some of the funds the VA did not pay in backpay in your retired pay. If this is the case you should be able to amend the amount of income reported for income taxes. Check up on the "Strickland Decision." Prior to 2004 you were prohibited from receiving both retired pay and compensation so any compensation was withheld from from your retired pay. However, in the case of retroactive decisions by the VA you had already received the money from in retired pay so VA held that from any backpay you might be due. The law changed then and restored only part of the retirement pay on an incremental basis over the next 10 years--hence full restoration in 2014. So, going from 30% to 60%, SOME of the reitred pay differential would be withheld from any VA backpay that was due. You can brush up on the CRDP/CRSC rules and make your own calculations or as suggested above, request the VA to audit your pay although this will probably just show you the results and not how they arrived at them. Regarding your second question, I was not sure that I understand the issue. If your retirement was in Aug '08 and your compensation should have started on the first of the next month, 1 Sep '08, wouldn't that mean that your back should have been figured to that date. Am I missing something? Does your statement indicate that your claim was granted as of 1 Sep '08 in which case payment would not start until Oct '08?
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CrashNash		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 6791 Oct 8 09 4:35 AM	The delta is more then likely the additional amount that should have been added to your VA Waiver on your retirement as a result of an increase in your compensation. CrashNash
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lvacjoub		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1414 Oct 8 09 7:19 AM	1st question: Read Hutsky's reply above - you are a military retiree and you are entitled to VA pay under the CRDP program, which you can read about on this forum. You do not receive full VA compensation in addition to military retired pay. You may want to read up on the CRSC which is slightly different and is paid for disability that is the result of combat, instruments of war, etc. 2nd question: The law requires that VA pay is effective from the first of the month following the month of entitlement, and benefits are due at the end of the month. Thus you retired 7-31-08, you are entitled to VA comp FOR August, and pay for August would arrive on 9-1-08 (if VA would be able to complete all the needed work on your claim within a few days - naturally claims take 6 months or so (if you are lucky) so for many vets the 1st check is for 5 months of backpay.
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cruiser		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17444 Oct 8 09 8:10 AM	Mayna wrote: My rating was recently increased from 30% to 60%. The VA just deposited $9,063.00 into my checking acct. for 13 months back pay. I was always under the understanding that I should have received a total of $13,382 ($1,064 X 13 months). You must subtract from the back pay amount what you already received for the 30 percent that was previously granted. Or am I missing something here? According to the '08 disability ratings table, a married veteran with a 60% rating gets $1,064 per month. I called the VA's 800 # and was told that the $1,064 figure is what it will be in 2014 when the disability raises max. out. If that's the case, why do they come up with a new table every year reflecting increased pay? I've never heard of anything like this. I'm sure that your check on November 1 will be $1064. Does anyone know the correct, legal way that the VA calculates back pay? Sure, they subtract what you have already received from what you were actually entitled to receive, and pay you the difference in a lump sum payment. I retired July 31, 2008 @ 2400. They will only award me benefits back to Sep 1,2008 because they lost the first two claims and are saying they got the third claim on August 3, therefore they bump it up to the first of the next month. Does anyone think it's worth the hassle fighting them over the month they "cheated" me on? You weren't "cheated" out of anything by VA. As Ivac said, if you retired on July 31 you would not be entitled to your first check until September 1 which would represent payment for the month of August. This means that your back pay would be for 14 months, not 13 like you said, if the payment was received in October 2009. At the same time, I have calculated your back pay for 14 months and I can't come up with a figure as high as $9063 that you said you received. Unless you are leaving something out I can't see where you have been shorted anything by VA. By my calculation you actually got a few dollars too much. What am I missing? Cruiser
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lvacjoub		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1414 Oct 8 09 9:14 AM	"what am I missing?" Cruiser, I think that Mayna, being a military retiree is talking about the military sending only part of the 60% pay rate - this tells me that he/she might be mixing up VA and Concurrent Receipt where a retiree rated over 50% gets a part of the VA comp rate from the military branch that he/she retired from until 2014 when part of the full rate is no longer offset or withheld or whatever the correct term is. Now you know why I kinda stay away from the CRSC/CRDP forums - it's way to confusing for a poor country boy like me
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cruiser		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17444 Oct 8 09 9:47 AM	lvacjoub wrote: "what am I missing?" Cruiser, I think that Mayna, being a military retiree is talking about the military sending only part of the 60% pay rate - this tells me that he/she might be mixing up VA and Concurrent Receipt where a retiree rated over 50% gets a part of the VA comp rate from the military branch that he/she retired from until 2014 when part of the full rate is no longer offset or withheld or whatever the correct term is. OK, when he said that he received it from VA I wasn't thinking that it could actually be from Defense, not VA. As long as I've done this you would think that I would realize that veterans often see them as one and the same. Cruiser
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lvacjoub		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1414 Oct 8 09 10:03 AM	Cruiser, perspective is everything... f'rinstance,.as a brand new know-it-all VSO I couldn't believe how dumb VA was After a few years, yep, they got smarter!
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hutsky		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2782 Oct 8 09 10:22 AM	Due to ambituity in the complaint we are all guessing. I think the complaint centers around the fact that VA withheld some of the 60% differential backpay due to the fact that a portion would have already been received in the form of retired pay and he may also have received some of the compensation for the earlier 30% disability. Just my guess.
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barfinkl		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 85 Oct 8 09 11:53 AM	Mayna wrote:I've since hired a lawyer but this is his first VA case and we're both researching how much money they owe me and how to best fight them on the month of August '08 back pay they owe me as they lost the first two claims. I would think you've already spent more than the one month's money you were "cheated" out of on the lawyer, unless you're just doing for th principle. Steve
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fleabag		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 10 Oct 9 09 10:03 AM	Hello all! New to the board here but been watching it constantly. Retired Navy Personnel Specialist, 22 years of service! Request permission to come aboard... I think Mayna and I have very similar situations, so let me take a stab at it and hopefully, clear the issue of back pay. I retired on 31 Aug 08 and was initially awarded 30%. VA started paying in Jan 09 and DFAS started taking an equal amount from my retired pay (VA Waiver) on the same month. I filed a NOD/De Novo review/appeal because of glaring errors in the initial rating decisions. My NOD/appeal was approved and rating was increased to 70% backdated. I did my math and it came up to around $16K backpay (rounded up for discussion purposes). VA sent $12K to my bank account and it was a great relief to our paycheck to paycheck existence Now, where is the other $4k coming from? Well, if you notice, even at 30%, we have been receiving payments from VA (in my case, around $500/month). So when I added the $12K deposit to the prior VA payments I received, the sum is around $16K. However, with DFAS taking out the same exact amount from our retired pay, DFAS is on the hook for the other $4k. I sent DFAS an inquiry about this and they told me that "they were notified by VA about my increased rating and that they are recomputing my entitlements and coordinating it with VA." They further said that if I'm owed back pay, it will take DFAS around 60 days to make the payment. They said that I'll get a letter explaining the entitlement/amount and the deposit will follow after that. So now, I wait... Now to address your other issues, if you retired on 31 July 2008, your retired pay starts on 1 Sept 08 and yes, your VA pay starts on that day also. 1 -30 August 09 is you first month of retired pay and it is paid on 1 Sept 09. Looking at your post, I think the rest of the money will come from DFAS, in about 60 days from the date of the letter increasing your rating. You should have received a RAS recomputing your retired pay with around $200 or less VA waiver. That is the offset required by law for the phase in of CRDP. However, you will receive the full amount of your 60% rating from VA, and that has probably started already in your case. It already did on mine. Also, since you filed with VA within a year of your retirement, and assuming that your rating increase is a result of an error in their initial rating, the 60% rating should be backdated to the day after retirement. Looking at your post, I think it is. That's it, I'm now waiting for the letter and the rest of my backpay from DFAS and so should you. I hope your scenario is the same as mine. I don't think you need a lawyer. I think, you got some bum gouge from whoever you talked to, but their dates seem to be accurate. All your retired/vet pay starts on 1 Sept 09. Just ignore the opinions that came with your conversations with them. You're in good shape. If you want, go to DFAS retired pay and send them an email just to make sure they got your file/case. Also, you did it right by computing your own CRDP. Now, that you have the amount and the effective date, I think you're GTG. Semper Gumby, Fleabag 70% SC Go NAVY! Beat Army!
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ricwilli		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 435 Oct 9 09 11:02 AM	Welcome aboard Fleabag! Thank you for your service! Ric Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club PTSD - 70% PN - 20% each limb (40%) DM2- 20% GERD - 10% HTN - 0% Diabetic retinopathy - 0% Total 90% SC - 100% TDIU SMC-S SSDI US Navy, SAR Aircrewman, 64-71, 2 Westpacs to VN, Combat Aircrew Wings...flew search and rescue in N Vietnam
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itzme	Confused with my Back Pay	#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2 Oct 19 10 3:44 PM	Hello, Maybe someone can help us out. My husband was rated at 40% effective June 2008. We received the decision on November 23 2008. So we only get the VA waiver. Then in November 27, 2010 after submitting another claim, he was rated at 50% effective June 2008 (w/c includes a statement that VA admits that there was a previous error on the first claim thats why theyre back dating his 50% back to June 08), also with that November 2010 decision he was approved at 60% effective Nov 2009. Needless to day, we received a $12887.00 direct deposit last Sept 1, 2010 whcih we figured was for the 60% rating since his compensation is $1273.00/month (10 months from Nov 09 to Sept 10). Now, my question is, what happened to the 50% back pay effective June 2008? Arent we supposed to get that too? He called the VA office in Reno and they said that their computer shows that he's already getting paid at 50% since June 08. We only get the VA waiver of $740 (1 child, 1 spouse and 1 child in college) every month since June 2008. The VA did not even send us an explanation of how they calculated such amount. Edited 1 time by itzme Oct 19 10 4:02 PM.
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jimmyd	Not sure how the Back Pay is paid out	#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3 Mar 27 12 2:51 PM	VA claim was received in Winston Salem in July 2011, they say I probably will not receive a rating award until August 2012 which is a total of 13 months. At what point does the back pay start at and how much back pay would I receive at say 60% with a spouse and one child?
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808		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 216 Mar 27 12 2:59 PM	Hi jimmyd, Welcome to VBN and thank you for your support! Please start your own tread as this one is almost 2 1/2 years old haha.. Some will be along to help you out with any questions you may have.. Good luck buddy!
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