Call to VA troubleshooting line ends Veteran’s years-long wait for disability rating
December 12, 2019
Many veterans know from experience that there can be extremely long wait times when waiting for a decision on a disability claim from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Currently, tens of thousands of men and women are waiting while their claims move through the VA’s processes.
One North Carolina man, Pete Lambert, waited nine years for an answer on his disability claim case decision. Lambert was a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune in the seventies, where he was exposed to dangerous dry-cleaning chemicals via heavily contaminated water over a prolonged period. As a result, he developed incurable kidney disease and a host of related health complications.
In the mid-2000s Lambert received a letter from the government stating that he was affected by water quality issues at Camp Lejeune, as were others who were stationed there from approximately 1957 to 1987. After he did some research, he realized that his kidney issues could have started with that exposure.
Lambert filed an initial disability claim with the VA in 2009 and was denied. Then he filed an appeal with the help of an attorney. Nine years later, in 2018, his appeal was approved, and his kidney disease was deemed service connected, but he continued to wait for his disability rating.
Finally, after nearly a decade with no resolution and no benefit payments, Pete Lambert reached out for help with getting an answer. He contacted a VA troubleshooter to ask why his wait was so long, and got his case expedited. After that call, his benefits were determined, and he had received a six-figure payment for back benefits. His case was closed only weeks after the call to the troubleshooter.
Unfortunately, Pete Lambert’s story is not uncommon. Federal laws make claims difficult to navigate and there are many factors that affect the process, such as staffing, workloads and the health, finance and age of the veteran, which may prioritize a claim. The VA says that the average claim is usually processed in only three months.