My Veterans Affairs Process so far...(lower limbs)

[gryphonv]

I have been diagnosed with Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (chronic shin splints) in both my legs. Without getting into too much detail there is a long history on my medical file from it reoccurring (3 TCats, several physio referrals, a couple outside specialists and tests) to the point it gave me a PCat and a 3b medical release.

I applied for a disability award through recommendation of a couple of my peers.

I submitted my paperwork early this year, and checked in on it about once a week through online. After about a month it went from step 1 to step 2.

After about another month it went from step 2 back to step one. At this point I called in to see if anything was wrong with my file. Nobody could explain why it switched online but there appeared to be no issues on their end.

I continued watching the progress, logging in once or twice a week to see if status changed. Recently when I logged in it was now at step 3. The peculiar thing I noticed, they broke my original claim up into two separate claims. One for each leg.

Does this mean I could get a separate assessment for each leg (although the condition is equal in both)? Also if there are two different assessments. Do they combine both to determine award or take the highest of the two?

Thank you in advance.

 

[gryphonv]

Even though no activity on this thread, I'll update it, incase people are reading but don't comment (I read a lot of posts and hardly comment.)

Logged in to VAC my account a few min ago and my file is now Complete, I logged in this morning and it was still on Phase 3. So official time from submitting to complete was 15 weeks and 1 day. I'll update later if my review was favorable or not. I'm guessing I should see it by Monday.

 

[gryphonv]

I received my Disability Claim paperwork today. I have been granted disability entitlement.

It went on further saying 'We require more information about your condition to make a proper assessment'.

So all in all I'm very happy with this outcome as I am not in any financial stress at this period of my life, I know it probably will be a long process before I get offered a %. But I feel a bit more at peace now knowing my initial claim had been successful.

One question I have though, how long would be a reasonable time to wait for them to contact me? The letter states they will contact me shortly.

 

[gryphonv]

Update on my process so far:

About 2 weeks after receiving my acceptance letter I contacted VAC to see the status of them contacting me for a further assessment (which was stated in the acceptance letter).

The agent told me to wait until the beginning of June and if I haven't heard from them to give them back a call.

I called back today as there was no contact from VAC. First agent after I explained my situation and reason for my call told me to please hold and threw me back into the automated prompts (end of day so I guess she wanted to get off early lol). 2nd agent who came on, after I explained why I am calling. Told me that I would have to wait up to 3 months for them to contact me, if they don't to call back after 3 months. I told her ok and we ended our conversation.

Now I'm feeling this is pretty ridiculous of a delay. I proceeded to call the Veterans Ombudsman to see what options I have. The lady was very helpful, took my information and said she will look into my file and get back to me tomorrow. 

I didn't want to have to contact the Ombudsman because it kinda feels like we shouldn't have to. But I didn't feel a 3 month delay for VAC just to contact me with an appointment date was a bit much.

So right now I'm sitting at just under 20 weeks since my initial application. 16 for my application, 4 weeks of waiting for them to contact me for further assessment.

Hopefully the Ombudsman can light some fires for me.

 

[wings1]

Good Luck. I have been in your situation although I did not contact the ombudsman. Maybe I should have . One claim I put in my first one took a total of 56 weeks from start to finish including a re-assessment . Once the re-assessment was complete the 16 week time frame begins again . In my case it took 3 months to get the re-assessment appointment then another 16 weeks wait time then a request for another 4 weeks . I currently have another claim in its been in step 3 for past 16 weeks and was told the adjudicators are several months behind completing claims so it looks like another several months before I hear anything. like I said GOOD LUCK I hope your able to get the ombudsman to do something for you 

 

[gryphonv]

Thanks.

So here is my update. The kind lady at the Veterans Ombudsman called me back the next morning fairly quick (just after 0900 local). She looked into my file and explained a couple options.

First was to request the required form from VAC and get my current military doctor to fill it out, which would bypass the requirement to have a VAC doctor assess me.

Second was to lodge an official complaint against VAC, this in itself could take some time to resolve but will allow them to work on my file in a bit more depth.

I went with the first option, I chose not to lodge an official complaint as this time as the first seemed to resolve my current issue.

I went to my local IPSC and got the required forms for my doctor and figured that was that.

Shortly after that (about an hour). I get a call from VAC with a scheduled appointment time.

So in the end I feel the Veterans Ombudsman helped a lot behind the scenes as I went from having to wait an extra 3 months for an appointment to be scheduled to having an appointment in 5 weeks.

So current time frame I'm looking at:

Completed:
16 weeks initial application (approved, no reward until reassessment)
4 weeks waiting for appointment for reassessment (was looking at an extra 3 months or more)

Pending:
5 weeks for my appointment
16 weeks for my reassessment

Total time : Estimated 41 weeks from initial application.

Will update as it moves along.

 

[gryphonv]

Here is my update.

Had my reassessment done on the 11th of July.

Logged in to My VAC today and now notice my Reassessment at is Step 3. So no other paperwork needed from me.

Hopefully within the next 16 weeks I will be informed of the award amount. Currently sitting at 6 months exactly to the day.

 

[gryphonv]

Another update.

Logged into VAC today, my claim has now been combined into one claim "(These conditions have been combined for assessment purposes.)"

So it went from 1 claim, being split into two claims, now both combined again into 1 for assessment purposes.

Hopefully with the update it is further down the line and will be complete soon. I'm just shy of 8 months currently from my initial application.

 

[gryphonv]

Update.

Just got off the phone with my Case Manager, Claim is now complete. So total time to completion was roughly at the 8 month mark. Not too bad it seems compared to some cases.