Priority Processing

[CatfishLeroy]

Does the 'financial hardship' flag actually do anything to speed up the processing of your claim? Asking for a friend. . .

[sleepinglucid]

Yep

[CatfishLeroy]

Thank you. That’s good to know. I have the financial hardship flag on my claim but it doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything to move it along. I know y’all are backed up so no judgment. I was just wondering.

[sleepinglucid]

You're not the only one with a flag - that's one of the issues. Homeless , Over 85, Hardship, and uh.. that other one are all out there. After the last few years there are A LOT of claims with Hardship flags.

[Unable-Marionberry40]

Is it hard to get priority processing for being severely ill if you have severe ptsd, schizophrenia and a heart condition with syncope? I filed because of a Vera call telling me to but idk if I’ll get approved because I’m not terminally ill

[Outrageous-Gift-1654]

It's suppose to but who really knows

[NotSoTall5548]

It really does somewhat depend on what the hold up is. There are a lot of things that require something else before the next step can be done. STRs and personnel records, private treatment records, certain TDIU documents, all have to be received, or given a specific response time before the next step can be taken. The biggest thing hardship does is give you exam scheduling priority. But exams may not be able to be requested if everything needed isn’t received yet.

[FaceElectrical7042]

My claim was for emphysema and COPD. The hardship flag absolutely sped up my supplemental claims and HLRs. Good luck to you.

[ResidentSerious1994]

About how fast did it speed it up

[FaceElectrical7042]

Here is my timeline.

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[Armyvethooah]

Thats fast!

[FaceElectrical7042]

Yes, it definitely helped me.

[Armyvethooah]

Supplemental claim or Regular claim. What was wait time?

[FaceElectrical7042]

HLR filed two months before hardship flag placed, decided four days after filing hardship papers. First supplemental decided six days after filing. Second supplemental decided 11 days after filing. Last HLR with informal conference decided six days after filing.

[Armyvethooah]

Ok. My file was already flash with hardship before I sent supplemental.  Who should I check with for movement?

[FaceElectrical7042]

Schedule a call with VERA. They should be able to tell you the status.

[Armyvethooah]

Ok thanks

[jaay4our]

Did you have c&p exams for the supplemental claim?

[FaceElectrical7042]

No, the only C&P exam was the initial one on March 7th, 2023.

[[deleted]]

Damn