VAC AT IT AGAIN

No what I had to go through I would not wish upon my worst enemy and believe me I have a few LOL but one thing I did learn after 21 years in the infantry is do not accept no as a answer when it comes to the welfare of your family

ha ha great rifleman and that's just how its done. glad to here you got them to make a decision and that you were approved. me and a few others had to scream to the hills just to even get the applications sent to us. after that everything went smooth.

my question is should all that be even necessary?

propat

WOW that was quick after a few phone calls to certain individuals and Emails my PIA SUPP has been approved

Thanks for the info propat I will wait and see how this all plays out, no worry.

ya buds they kinda got ya. now I think you are talking about PIA and supplement. now you are not qualified to receive the supplement unless you are on PIA so although the PIA can be backdated to the date of application the supplement can only be backdated to the point you were accepted for PIA not the date you applied for it. so they can hold off all they want on the PIA say 500+ and pay you all the retro on that but will never have to pay you the retro on the supplement say 1000+ im thinking this may not be a staffing problem. now lets just say you applied for the ELB at the same time and were on SISIP. WELL WELLL WELLLL they can put you off forever as you cannot get the PIA without ELB. now they will have to pay you all the retro on ELB since you were on SISIP that would be nothing and no retro on the PIA and supplement about 1500+ a month. im wondering if all those politicians that love the NVC as it is know about some of this crap??? I know fore a fact some do.

allways question authority

propat

Just an FYI

I sent in my PIA application , through my area councillor and waited a year just to have the application submitted, it did get approver but only one part was back dated to the original day of submission,  The fact that I loose out because of the lack of man power at DVA is crap, my lose is $10,000.00 + so to try and fight it I now have to appeal after waiting another 6 months to be told that they will not give me the full amount back dated to the original date. bottom line their mistake cost me!

I will appeal and fight the person who says that she decided that I was not entitled to the full amount of back pay.

my area councillor was up front about the mistake with her higher ups that fact did not change anything.

Just remember to get the dates and peoples names on paper so you can fight fire with fire when they interpret the rules to benefit DVA.

Thanks for all the info on my situation I logged into my vac account and found application for PIA SUP and filled it out I also called vac and sent a secure message this site is awesome thanks again for all the info and help.

OK thanks for poking my curiosity Sparrow. I went to My VAC and did some window shopping and some fact finding.

I think with stamps going up to $1.00 this is going to be used for my travel claims! (You know you are old if you remember the 10 cent stamp!)

I called VAC and asked about the signature block and was told if a person opens their My VAC then signatures are not required. We also discussed what is a good number of appointments before submitting? I was told by the NCCN that as long as the first one isn't one year past the last one it's good. Or submit one doctor appointment at a time.

I asked about still taking the form to the doctor's office to have it stamped for my files that might be needed if VAC audits my travel claims and it was agreed it's a good practice. After one year if VAC doesn't ask for it the client can trash it.

Seems I have slipped up on using My VAC. If anyone has any other positive or negative interactions with My VAC post it.

I already have one...the forms do not open on my Chrome browser but it does work on my IE Explorer. The Chrome one keeps saying to "enable Adobe on my Chrome browser". So i'm not that computer literate so how do I enable it on Chrome and can it be enabled for 2 browsers?

Sure Teen,
1. Log In To Secure DVA Site
2. Click On My Forms and Applications Icon
3. Click On Upload Documents (Saved To Your Computer) To Support Application
4. Upload file and submit. (Has option to add text with the uploaded document)

Under the Section Forms and Applications you have several options:
Apply for disability benefits
Check the status of your disability benefits application
Browse for and submit other on line forms
View forms you have saved as draft
Upload documents to support an application

Please note that a Veteran can apply on this secure website for a disability benefit and also submit adjoining medical documents in support of application via this process as outlined above. Once documents are electronically submitted you will be given a generated reference number for your records within a few moments. Depending on your submission, you will receive a secure message once reviewed and/or you may be contacted via phone.

How many steps are involved in attaching a document Sparrow?

I haven't been to My VAC in about a year so if you could explain how and what can be attached it might generate some more use by clients.

There is the electronic option of submitting a document to support an application through the DVA secure website. I myself have used this option. You must scan the document and then attach it as directed on the DVA secure website (once you have registered of course).
My original comment to Rifleman was that there must be a communication record of a telephone conversation at the very least on his file for one of the times he called DVA about the PIA  ~ and perhaps when he reapplies due to the missing original application   that he could be cross referenced and back dated.
Thanks Teen for all you do behind the scenes with all these agencies very much appreciated.

Rex when you sign into My VAC you access their intranet which is secure. So to add an attachment is equivalent to the IT guy freaking out and giving birth to a litter of kittens.

Remember VAC is trying to catch up to the 21st century. Their recently revamped website is the start. That is not finished as VAC is still going thru the ROT (deciding what doc's are still valid) to be digitized and put on their database. The ROT is being done by a company in Quebec.

That said their priority is documents first then client files for digitizing. After all that it will be the connection of DO's, Provincial Commands, PEI. Then electronic attachments by clients for travel claims, purchase of daily living aids and setting up an electronic system similar to other insurance companies for all the service providers VAC clients go to.

Here's the kicker to all this...there is a gov't rule of not 'piggy backing' another department set up to interact with the public. Remember the panic from VAC clients that had to register for My VAC Account thru CRA? I tried to tell the IT guy at VAC who developed it that registering thru CRA is going to be a huge barrier for VAC clients to hurdle. He did not understand that as soon as you become a VAC client paranoia automatically kicks in.

I know that I can send a secure message through "My VAC" account, so I don't know why they couldn't set up a way to add an attachment. This way there would be a digital copy, that is kept on your file, and then all the adjudicator would need is the name of the applicant, and then access the application directly from the internal records. My father applied for VIP services last March, and when he called last week, he was told that nobody had actioned it, but would send it for an answer immediately, and this was after they lost his initial application 2 years ago, so it's not like this situation is an anomaly.

I can answer that one Sparrow...two years ago then ADM Mary Chaput said that VAC was going to catch up to the 21st century and set up and use an intranet for VAC. Unfortunately this will take 5 years.

One of the updates is scanning and storing at DO's. They are not there yet so paper applications are bundled up at the DO and sent to the applicable office.

I believe in this case it would go from rifleman's DO to the provincial DO then onto PEI adjudicator. All via mailbags!

I asked Mary what is the target date for clients to scan the paperwork at home and send it via email to our DO? After a minute or two of nodding and absorbing the question she bluntly stated that it would not be secure enough to do that. But she would have her team look into possibly doing it in the future.

Oh ADM Chaput is now the Deputy Minister of VAC.

This is disappointing for you Rifleman. I could be wrong, but I thought that all communications between clients and DVA personnel are entered on their internal system. Therefore despite the loss of the original application, I would think at the very least a DVA Supervisor could back date your replacement application from the time you originally applied by referencing your telephone communications that should be noted on your personal file. There must be at least one reference on your file about your PIA Supplement application. As always, please keep copies of every correspondence and application in the event this happens to anyone. Keep strong.