The Board of Veterans Appeals
Every
decision at your VA is allowed an extensive appeal opportunity. Each
time you appeal, the chances that your case will be approved improves.
VAWatchdog estimates that about 70% of all decisions issued by the VA
Regional Office (VARO) will be flawed. The decision maker may wrongfully
deny the case or grossly under-rate the award that is issued to the
veteran.
Veterans have a right to appeal every decision. There
are rules of timeliness and process that must be followed. VAWatchdog
urges veterans to anticipate that their claim will be denied. The
veteran should begin the preparations to appeal while he/she develops
the original filing. This means that the veteran must keep good records
of all paper or any other communications, have clean and well organized
copies of all documents, use certified mail with return receipt
requested, etc.
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (also known as "BVA" or "the Board") is a part of the VA, located in Washington, D.C.
Members of the Board review benefit claims determinations made by local
VA offices and issue decision on appeals. These Law Judges, attorneys
experienced in veterans law and in reviewing benefit claims, are the
only ones who can issue Board decisions.
VAWatchdog recommends that the veteran who receives a denial first use the DRO Process appeal. Veterans may or may not choose to retain legal counsel at this stage. If the DRO Process denies the claim, the veteran may then choose to proceed to the BVA.
VAWatchdog recommends that veterans seek an attorney to represent them to the BVA. Although the BVA denies that it is adversarial, it certainly isn't friendly to veterans. The BVA is staffed by attorneys paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The moment your case transfers to BVA is the moment that the typical VAWatchdog recommendation to Do It Yourself (DIY) ends.
You should have a well trained and skilled lawyer working for you.
The BVA web site
is helpful when you are searching for cases similar to
yours. Reading earlier decisions may provide the veteran with
significant insight into preparing their own case for appeal.
Click the BVA search engine, choose a year and enter a few key words to begin your search. Careful reading may reveal to you how others have prevailed with cases similar to your own.
Anyone who is not satisfied with the results of a claim for veterans benefits (determined by a VA regional office, medical center, or other local VA office) should read the "How do I Appeal" pamphlet. It is intended to explain the steps involved in filing an appeal and to serve as a reference for the terms and abbreviations used in the appeal process.
The Board of Veterans Appeals 2011 Annual Report Is Released
Click here to view the report.
Noteworthy stats:
* The quantity of BVA Decisions is estimated to decrease in 2012. This is the 2nd year of the trend of less work produced at BVA. This probably means longer wait times for your appeal.
* Decisions allowed and/or remanded were at an all time high. 72.7% of cases adjudicated at BVA were allowed or remanded. This is an indicator that ever more errors are occurring at the VARO.
* Denials by BVA have dropped from the 2008 rate of 38.9% to the 2011 rate of 24.2%.
* BVA Dispositions (decisions) by Representation (VSO, self, agent, attorney) seem to be similar until the data is examined in detail. Attorney representatives experience a rate of 17.7% of BVA cases denied and 49.2% of cases remanded.
Remands
Remand is a legal term which has a number of related but distinct usages: Remand as a court procedure; an action by an appellate court in which it sends back a case to the trial court or lower appellate court for further action.
When BVA remands your appeal from BVA back to the VARO it means that the case file was inadequate for BVA to make a decision. This could be because of an inadequate C & P examination or a lack of proper evidence. In VA terms it may also mean that the file folder was not "perfected" by the VARO. Often enough the VARO may err and the veteran will appeal to BVA. The BVA may review the record and remand the case back to the VARO for more work. The VARO may then mishandle the case again and it will travel back to BVA where it is once again remanded.
The case may travel to the CAVC, return to the VARO, back to BVA for and continue in this endless loop for years. This is phenomena is sometimes called the hamster wheel. The Appeals Management Center (AMC) is a system designed to assist the veteran in sorting out the FUBAR claim. Historically, the AMC seems to be of no help.
Noteworthy stats:
* In FY 2011 BVA received 122,663 Notices of Disagreement (NODs). It is estimated that BVA will receive 184,000 NODs in FY 2012.
* The average length of time between filing the appeal and final disposition by BVA was 883 days (2.4 years).
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