Helping the Veterans?
75Helping the Veterans......
So many have applied for the new post 9/11 GI Bill with high hopes but something has gone terribly wrong. No communication, and not enough workers to handle all the claims. The VA is supposed to help the veterans during this process, and I understand tensions are high but when a veteran calls the education number they shouldn't be met with attitude. So who's helping the Vets during all this confusion? It's a sad case of hurry up and wait, which so many of us are doing. I like so many others have applied for the new gi bill and recieved my letter of eligiblity in Aug. Pretty fast considering the circumstances. I thought 'Hey I'm one of the lucky ones.' Spoke too soon. When I applied for my second semester the VA made an overpayment of tuition to my school of $11,744. They sent my case to the VA debt department and I was offset. Everything was taken, my BAH as well as my book stipend for DEC. I figured if I could get the school to send back the overpayment then I would start to recive my money again and they would owe me. (at least that's what I was told.) My school sent the money back immediately and I called the VA to verify it. They claimed that it hadn't been recieved but my school has given me the check number and told me it had been cashed. A month later my accont had a zero balance and the VA rep told me that my payment had been released. I thought great now I'll recieve my payment. The first of the month comes and guess what, still no money. When I called this time they said I still had a zero balance and they would have to send in an inquiry to the regional office. I waited some more, finally I got tired of waiting and I called the VA debt dept and they said that I now had an additional debt of $4,000. Ok lets do the math.
My school tuition is $5,872. The VA sent them double that for tuition $11,744 which they recieved back $5,872 (minus the semester tution). I was offset $3,964 with an additional offset of $4,000
The VA now has $13,836 paid to them. Does this make sense. I pretty much paid my own tution and more. I have sent in a Notice Of Disagreement (NOD) a month ago but haven't recieved word yet. I guess I'm in for some more waiting.
My main purpose for this blog was to help my fellow soldiers with some information I have picked up along the way.
VA Education number
1-888-442-4551 if you call this number you run the risk of not getting through or you may experience extremely long hold times. If you have long distance your better off calling this number 1-918-781-5790. I get through the first time every time and the wait is shorter.
I decided to call the NY Regional Office directly but I'll be honest they really weren't much help either. She looked up my info and told me she will send it to the financial department but I'll list those numbers anyway maybe you'll have better luck.
716-857-3263, 716-857-3140, 716-857-3145
If you have a debt call 1-800-827-0648
VA Website: www.va.gov
To contact the congressmen in your area click on the link below
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
I got this from facebook the post 9/11 GI Bill crisis center page. Follow the link to check them out. They have a draft letter you can use when writing your congressmen.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=163420897206&topic=11266#!/group.php?gid=163420897206
If you need help writing an NOD I have placed a sample letter below,
DATE: (upper right hand corner of your letter)
Department Of Veterans Affairs
Place the address of where your VA regional office is located
Attention: (Place the department you wish to contact) in reference to Veteran – your name here
Social Security #
Address on record:
Branch of service:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing this letter regarding issues surrounding my (state your issue)
Please consider this my Notice of Disagreement. My first issue is (state issues clearly, if you have multiple issues make sure to list them as well. Make sure to be clear about what your problem is.)
If someone could review my file it would be greatly appreciated. I thank you in advance for your time with this matter.
Sincerely,
Your name
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin21/m21_1/mr/part1/ch05/ch05_secb.doc This link provides you with processing time, time limits to file your NOD it is a pdf. (Apparently now you no longer have a year to file an NOD. )
If you would like more information on NOD or would like to know what other veterans are saying regarding the issue please follow this link
I will update you on my situation seeing as I sent out letters to my congressmen, I've sent out an NOD as well as phoned the VA numerous times. (Something has got to give)
If you have any relevant information please feel free to post it or if you have something you would like researched contact me ASAP and I will try my best to get it.
3/3/2010 Update
OK here's the deal, after sending out all my letters about a month ago I received a call on Monday from the NYC mayors office. The woman I spoke to was very nice. She said she was calling me because of the email I had sent to Mayor Bloomberg (his message center for veterans can be found on his website) and that she was going to contact the VA to see what is going on with my benefits. Good news is that after all that time and all my benefits being taken the debt has been fully paid off and I received my BAH payment on the first of March. The VA officially owes me close to $5,000 in back pay for all the BAH they took but hopefully the woman I spoke to can help get all this situated. Contacting your government officials can help so don't hesitate.
6/22/2010 Update
Thankfully everything has been worked out and although I'm just begining to recieve benefits on a regular basis I can't help but fear this problem may happen again. I spoke to a VA rep at my school and just so all the vets who are going through this know, if the VA does happen to overpay your school DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO SEND THE MONEY BACK. The VA rep told me that this could actually seriously delay processing. From my own experience I know this to be true, and they still take it from your BAH. I wish all of you good luck.
Checking In.......
Hello Everyone,
It's been awhile so I thought I'd check on everything and see how everyone is doing with the changes that occurred with the post 9/11 GI Bill. I'm still here if there is anything you need help with or any questions you may have, feel free to write a comment and I'll try to get it squared away as quickly as possible. Be safe everybody.
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Thanks for the post, very useful information. I am fighting the same battle with VA on my education benefits.Currently I am at the last step (congressional inquiry)unfortunately my representative wasn't as nice or concerned as yours.Keep up the good work!!
Thanks Mike for commenting, I'm sorry that you and many other vets have to go through this and I hope that the VA processes your claim quickly.
I'm having the same problem of overpayment and I'm expecting $3,600 back from VA from my BAH.
I just don't understand when you said, "I spoke to a VA rep at my school and just so all the vets who are going through this know, if the VA does happen to overpay your school DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO SEND THE MONEY BACK."
Isn't it that the VA will still continue on deducting the overpayment debt to your BAH anyway? Isn't it that the first step is to have the school send the overpayment back ASAP? If VA don't have the funding back then why would you expect your deducted BAH to come back?
To MikeGuest:
Of course they will, this is what was done to me I had my school send the money back asap and for months they said that they did not recieve it, even after I gave them the check number and poc's phone number. Mind you this overpayment happened in Dec of 2009 and I just started recieveing BAH again and the payment was sent back. Wouldn't it just be easier to have the school refund the money to you and you make arrangements to pay the VA debt department yourself seeing as the school only has the buffalo address and not the debt departments address and communication between the two departments can be very scarce. For example, I had put in a waiver request back in feb and they are just starting to work on it but the gi bill claims specialist are having a hard time locating the information. Whether they have recieved the money or not they are still going to hold your bah until the payment hits their system and that could take months. So my suggestion was only that you should take care of the issue personnaly rather than wait for the VA to process it. I hope I've cleared things up for you and good luck with this matter.
I understand that this would be an EASIER route for me, if all goes like so. But, I just don't see any institution to hand me the $ that they received as overpayment from VA (even with all the explanations, prayers and tears)(Just like they won't give you cash refund for something you paid with a credit card). Schools are nice to vets but i don't see them messing with their accounting to fix what VA is doing wrong.
btw, talked to bursar and vet rep of school, and yeah, there is no way they will release overpayment funds to me, only to where they came from.
I like your post. It hits straight home. My vet rep said there are many vet who are in the same boat. I was told, she was told, there are some legal issues about the process of applying the returned funds to the vet's account. I'm a very patient guy (but man, this is really slow). Who ever thought VA should deduct the money (tuition) that the vet never saw at all FROM the vet's BAH should be fired. IMHO.
To MikeGuest:
I'm sorry to hear that you and so many other vets are having such a hard time with this especially with something that shouldn't be so hard. Trust me Mike no way is EASIER than the next, I've spent long stressful hours on the phone, countless emails, and alot of headaches to get answers to the simplest questions but eventually it paid off. As you can see even after fighting so hard it took long but I believe that it could have taken longer if I didn't make my voice heard. As for the refund please all I ask is that you take it a step further and make absolutely sure, schools may differ in their refund policy's but I guarantee you that every school is given the same information regarding overpayments. I attached this link for you to check over, My only thought is that if regardless of whether or not a refund was issued to the student, the student is still held responsible for the overpayment and this causes a financial burden for some who have left work to go to school full time or who have part time jobs and go to school, it's a shame that this should happen.
Overpayment of Benefits (Cont’d)
Bottom Line: Tuition and Fees payments are paid
to the school on behalf of the student;
overpayments for Tuition and Fees will be charged
to the student
? In the event a student does not complete a
course, the student may (or may not) receive
a refund from the school
Bottom Line: If an overpayment is charged,
the student will make repayment
arrangements with VA’s Debt Management
Center (DMC) regardless of whether or not a
refund was received from the school
This is from a training slide for school officials please take a look at it and become familiar with your schools refund policy. Keep in mind many schools are just getting used to the new gi bill and many may not know what is or isn't.
Good Luck
Copy and paste into your web browser
The link says a lot. I will mention this to my rep next time we talk. Thanks.
How did you find out that they overpaid the school? I just opened a letter from the VA stating that we owe them 3500.00 in overpaid benefits, our previous letter said our benefits went up 3 dollars a month..haha, so where do they figure? My hubby has only been in school since mid May...he has the post 9/11 G.I bill, and is on the Yellow Ribbon program. Any help would be great here...I am miffed!! :/
Hello Tippysock,
Ok what I think your saying is that you and your spouse recieved a letter saying that you will recieve an increase but than recieved a letter saying because of an overpayment you now owe 3,500 back. If I'm following you correctly than I would suggest you call a gi bill claims specialist which I'm sure you already did, I'm unsure of why they would increase benefits and I don't know what your percentage is but you should ask them if the percentage (60%, 70% etc.) is correct. Unless you're recieving 100%. You don't want to end up owing more because of additional errors on their part. As far as the debt, I also recieved a letter from the debt department, which I then took immediately to my school just to confirm. Let's face it, the VA leaves little room for trust. If this is a recent letter than I would immediately put in for a payment plan with the debt department. When I say immediatley I mean it, you may recieve the letter saying you have 30 days to put this in but they will take those payments out the following 1st of the month. So contact them too. Their number is (800) 827-0648 They will ask you to fill out a financial status report. Please read the following information so you have a heads up on what to expect. Good luck and know that there are many who are behind you as well as with you in this.
Pay By Monthly Payments
If you are unable to pay your debt in full, we will work with you to establish an acceptable monthly payment plan. To take advantage of this option, please mail a letter indicating the amount you can pay on a monthly basis along with a completed Financial Status Report.
Mail your letter and a completed Financial Status Report to the address listed above. To expedite the processing, you may fax your letter and completed Financial Status Report to (612) 970-5688.
Please be sure to complete Block 24B on the Financial Status Report to indicate the amount you propose to pay monthly. You may also send a payment with the correspondence. We will contact you and let you know if the proposed monthly payment plan is acceptable.
Pay By Monthly Offsets
If you receive a monthly benefit check from the VA and we advised you that we plan to offset the entire check amount to apply to your debt, you can request a smaller offset amount.
If the offset amount you propose can liquidate the debt within a one-year timeframe or less, you do not need to complete a Financial Status Report.
If the timeframe exceeds one year, you need to follow the same procedures as specified in the Pay By Monthly Payments section listed above.
If you have any questions, please contact us via phone (800) 827-0648 or e-mail dmc.ops@va.gov
Yes, he recieves 100% benefits. I went through all my bankk statements and added up all the payments we recieved inculding the book stipend and this amount does not equal the 3500.00 they are claiming..I am guessing it is an overpayment to the school, but since wee recieved this letter on a Saturday, and all offices are closed, apparently even the school, I have recieved no answeres, And my hubby works 6a.m. to 6 p.m. with only two 15 min. breaks and one 1/2 hour break today, so I wish him luck getting through to the VA on those short breaks...haha! I am trying to understand, if this is an overpayment to the school as I suspect, why can't the school simply refund the overpayment to them and be done with this mess?! Why make us pay them back, the school still pays them back the overpayment...now the VA has MADE money and we are out $3500.00!!! Why even send the monthly benefits housing and book stipend if we are going to lose it anyway? Should I just keep it in a seperate account knowing the VA will eventually screw everything up....lol! I feel horrible for those that work part time and truley depend on this money to pay all their bills to go to school, then get screwed by having to send it back...worthless!!! My state representatives, governors, etc...WILL get a mouthful from me about this! I just need the details about the process of what happens to the money, as I am about to find out unfortunately, after a veteran sets up a payment plan due to their mistake. Sorry I am all over the place with this post..as you can see, I am angry and frustrated...I have been a bussiness owner for 12 years and if I treated my customers like this..I would have been out of business in 3 months!! Thanks for your response! Have a great day! :)
Hello Tippysock,
Unfortunately that's the truth of it. Have you tried talking to the school regarding their refund policy? As I stated to Mike, every schools refund policy is different but I provided a link to the training presentation from the VA used by school officials in their training for the post 9/11 gi bill. Again I would contact the VA certifying official at the school and tell them NOT to send the money back. They may say they cannot at first but keep in mind some schools are just starting to accept the post 9/11 and are unfamiliar with the policy. The address they have is different then the address for the debt department so if the school sends it back it will take months (hopefully sooner) to get it back. It is sad that their mistake becomes our debt but it is what it is and staying on top of the matter is the way to see this through. If the school still refuses to give a refund to you than try to explain (once again) that this will bring unnecessary debt and if they will not refund YOUR money to you then maybe they can send it directly to the debt department instead of the processing center. To be honest though I think that they will say 'we have to send the money to the address we have on file'. If the overpayment becomes our debt than isn't only right that the money the school has be refunded to us, after all it is our money now and we should be able to pay for that debt without having to put ourselves in any further debt. As a business owner myself I sympathize with you, making plans with money that you cannot rely on is a tough one especially when it comes to bills. As far as the money goes try and keep vigilant on where they are with the process. If the school sent the money back make sure to get the check number and poc's name and number. Your going to be in for a wait. If they didn't send it back yet bring the presentation slide to them and make the arrangements for a refund. Well good luck and if you have any further questions please feel free to comment. :)
Thank you so much for the information. The VA just overpaid my school, and I immediately got suspicious when the finance department emailed me notifying me of a 'credit tuition balance'. I asked them to send me the refund directly, because I know the VA will come hunting me down for it.
Good save!
You're very welcome, glad that this info helped. Good Luck.
Hey everyone just wanted to touch base and post an update which was posted on the VA website on June 20th 2011 regarding any debt,
"If you decrease your training time (i.e. drop classes, leave school, etc.) and we have already processed a payment for tuition and fees, an overpayment will occur. When the School Certifying Official (SCO) notifies us of a change, a debt is created against your account. The school wil issue any refunds in accordance with their internal policy, which may not fully cover the debt with the VA. If the amount refunded by the school does not satisfy the debt, you are responsible for the remainder.
•If the school refunds money directly to the VA, we will credit your account any amount the school refunds.
•If they refund money directly to you, you must clear the debt with us.
A decrease in your credit hours could also result in changes to your housing allowance and books & supplies stipend. If VA has already issued you a payment for the term a debt will be created on your account.
You are responsible for keeping track of your tuition and fee account balance and payments. Vist your schools's financial office regularly to review your account, ensure the charges are correct and that payments and refunds are processed correctly, contact your SCO to ensure the certification information they send to us matches your schedule.
Please contact the Debt Management Center if you receive a debt notification from the VA. The Debt Management Center is the authoritative source of debt collection information. You can reach them at 800 827-0648 or e-mail them at dmc.ops@va.gov."
For more info or any other questions copy and paste the following link in your browser
Micky Dee Level 4 Commenter 24 months ago
I'm an old Vet but I thank you for putting this together!