Appeal qustion.
About 2 months ago I got a letter from the VA concerning my appeal on various issue. In the letter they said most of the issues were being remanded to the VA for more testing/clarification by doctors. But they also acknowledged that I had indicated I was also appealing the rating for my hearing and PTSD and that I had to get that appeal in quickly.
I had already sent an appeal in for those issues about 8 months earlier through the DAV. So I refiled the appeal again via the Maine Veterans services. I few days ago I got another letter from the VA this time ackowledging the appeal for those items. I can only assume that the DAV never bothered to submit the earlier appeal I had given them to submit. The other appeal items that were remanded was filed through the DAV as well.
So now I am wondering what I should do. The previous appeal for the other issues were waiting for written response from the DAv for 2 years before I got this earlier letter from the VA, and they also didn't file this latest appeal. This makes me think I should get someone else to represent me. But would this mess up things for the earlier appeal if I do switch representative?
The second question concerns the form I was sent about the PTSD & Hearing. They are asking if I want it to be handled by a DRO or traditional appeal process. Which process would be better to use? My inital appeal went before a judge which ended up getting me 80% S/C after it was remended back to the VA with some strong language by the judge. But it also took a few years to be heard by the judge. But the outcome was pretty good using the traditional appeal. So I think I'm leaning towards that route again.
But I have no knowledge of how well the outcomes are doing the DRO route or how long it takes that way. I kind of suspect that the DRO would be almost like the initial claim with the VA just denying my claim despite the evidence. Any insight on this process would be helpful.
I had already sent an appeal in for those issues about 8 months earlier through the DAV. So I refiled the appeal again via the Maine Veterans services. I few days ago I got another letter from the VA this time ackowledging the appeal for those items. I can only assume that the DAV never bothered to submit the earlier appeal I had given them to submit. The other appeal items that were remanded was filed through the DAV as well.
So now I am wondering what I should do. The previous appeal for the other issues were waiting for written response from the DAv for 2 years before I got this earlier letter from the VA, and they also didn't file this latest appeal. This makes me think I should get someone else to represent me. But would this mess up things for the earlier appeal if I do switch representative?
The second question concerns the form I was sent about the PTSD & Hearing. They are asking if I want it to be handled by a DRO or traditional appeal process. Which process would be better to use? My inital appeal went before a judge which ended up getting me 80% S/C after it was remended back to the VA with some strong language by the judge. But it also took a few years to be heard by the judge. But the outcome was pretty good using the traditional appeal. So I think I'm leaning towards that route again.
But I have no knowledge of how well the outcomes are doing the DRO route or how long it takes that way. I kind of suspect that the DRO would be almost like the initial claim with the VA just denying my claim despite the evidence. Any insight on this process would be helpful.
The soul of a song will lift your spirits. 