Why is it taking so long to resolve my claim?
When you file a claim for benefits at the Regional Office (“RO”), there are a number of steps in the process:
1. File claim.
2. Decision.
3. If you’re not satisfied with the decision, you must file a Notice of Disagreement (“NOD”) within a year.
4. The RO will offer you a review either through the traditional process or by a Decision Review Officer. If your claim is denied again, they will send you a Statement of the Case (“SOC”) along with a Form 9. You must return the Form 9 to appeal the denial to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (“BVA”). This must be done within 60 days of mailing of the SOC, OR, within one year of the original decision, whichever is later.
5. If any additional evidence is submitted, the RO will then issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case (“SSOC”). Many SSOCs can be issued, as new evidence is obtained by the RO.
6. The appeal is certified to the BVA.
7. BVA makes a decision.
8. If you’re not satisfied with the BVA decision, you have 120 days to appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
The Senate Veterans Affairs committee held a hearing on February 11, 2009, regarding the delays in processing claims and suggestions for improving the process. The representative from Disabled American Veterans presented some interesting statistics on average time lengths for some of these steps:
From the NOD to the SOC: 213 days.
From the SOC to filing Form 9: 44 days
From filing Form 9 to certification to the BVA: 531 days
Much of this delay is caused by obtaining additional evidence and issuing additional SSOCS.From receipt at the BVA to decision: 273 days.
So, altogether this would be 1,061 days from filing an NOD to receiving a BVA decision. This, of course, doesn’t even include the amount of time it took to get that initial decision after filing a claim, and it doesn’t include the amount of time that it will take if an appeal to the Court is necessary.
You can find the complete testimony at the hearing at the following link:
http://veterans.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?pageid=16&release_id=11839&view=all