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Fallsguy wrote:

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Received a lovely note from the neighborhood VA the other day. They say I have been overpaid re: my Agent Orange prostate cancer
100% P&T benefits because my daughter started receiving CH.35 benefits, thereby reducing my benefit check ($240/month for the last 22 months). 
In the real world, a screw-up like this would be eaten by the company that screwed up and somebody might get fired. I'm sure the VA Bennie world is different.   

Before we start calling for people to be fired, let's look at this a little closer.  I'm not saying that someone didn't drop the ball at VA; I'm just saying that it is entirely possible for you to have a significant overpayment without anyone at VA screwing up.

The fact is that the people who processed your daughter's Chapter 35 claim are supposed to simultaneously notify the VA Regional Office that has your claims folder so they can take any required action on your compensation.  This is standard operating procedure and it would be extremely rare for them to miss this, but it can happen; however, it is more likely that there was a retroactive award of Chapter 35 to your daughter that could easily be a year or more.  This would depend entirely on when your daughter's Chapter 35 entitlement was effective and not only  when the period of school attendance claimed began but also how long after it began that she submitted the application for Chapter 35. 

It isn't at all uncommon for an initial claim for Chapter 35 to be for a period of school attendance that began months before the claim was approved.  They can't do anything to your award until her claim is actually approved and payments are started.  With this in mind how long was your daughter actually receiving checks each month before you were notified of the adjustment of your compensation?  Were there any retro payments to your daughter?   

I don't know of anything that says I have to "inform them".  They shoulda known!

You said that you were overpaid $240 a month for 22 months.  That means that for 22 months you were receiving additional compensation for a school child over the age of 18.  To do this you had to sign a VA Form 21-674 claiming her as a school child.  Did you read what you were signing?  This is what it says directly above your signature on that form:

I AGREE to notify the Department of Veterans Affairs immediately of any changes in this course of education, transfer to another school, discontinuance of school attendance, receipt of Dependents Educational Assistance, or marriage prior to completion of the course. I understand that continued entitlement to school attendance may be based on information I have furnished on this form. Any benefits allowed due to this certification will be discontinued if the student marries, receives VA Dependents Education Assistance (DEA) benefits, leaves school, or passes away.

So even if VA screwed up and didn't promptly adjust your award of compensation at the same time they awarded the Chapter 35, you had already agreed over your signature to notify the Regional Office if your daughter was awarded Chapter 35.  So how much time elapsed after she actually started receiving her monthly checks before you did what you agreed to do and notified the Regional Office that she had been awarded Chapter 35 benefits?

There is no way for me to know, but I have a hunch that a good chunk of that 22 months that you were overpaid involved a retroactive grant of Chapter 35 benefits to your daughter.  If so, your daughter created that part of the overpayment by asking for those back payments.  There would be nothing that VA could have done about that since they must pay her whatever she is legally entitled to receive without regard as to an overpayment in your account.

If you tell me that there was no retroactive payments to your daughter, then I will agree that VA screwed this up; but did you screw up also by not doing what you agreed to do when you claimed her as a school child.  There might be enough blame to go around here.

Anybody have any suggestions for the best way to handle this? 

When you get the letter from the Debt Management Center about repaying the overpayment, propose a repayment plan.  They will work with you on this.  Do what someone suggested and propose to pay it back at the rate of $240 a month.  They might take that.

Cruiser