One of the most important things our office does is offer assistance to veterans and their families. The men and women who bravely volunteer to serve our country shouldn’t ever face stumbling blocks in receiving the benefits they have earned for themselves and for their families. Unfortunately, given the realities of any system that works to provide benefits and services to large numbers of people, from time to time there are errors or oversights that result in services being wrongfully withheld from their proper recipients.

Pamela Keller of Troy, Kansas contacted our office earlier this year after her husband, a Vietnam veteran, had passed away. She had applied for spousal survivor benefits, but even after four months of waiting, she had still not received a payment. This was putting Pamela into a serious financial problem, because she had no other income.

Our office contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs to find out why Pamela had yet to receive a payment. Apparently, the Department was lacking some of the documentation necessary to complete the process of the benefits claim. We were able to obtain the documents that the VA needed from Pamela and fax them directly to the claims processor responsible for her benefits. We asked them to expedite the process since she had already been waiting for several months. The VA assured us that Pamela would receive her first monthly benefit payment at the beginning of the next month which was only a couple of weeks away.

Pamela was satisfied, and we assured her that we would continue to monitor the VA and try to ensure that the payment was, in fact, completed on time. At the beginning of the next month, Pamela called us to let us know that she did receive her payment.

If you are eligible for a benefit from the Department of Veterans Affairs, but are not receiving those benefits, don’t hesitate to contact our office and ask to speak with a District Representative. Our staff is knowledgeable and skilled at working with the VA to ensure that you and your family are receiving any benefits to which you are entitled. Our veterans have made great sacrifices and deserve access their benefits with as little difficulty as possible. It’s the least we can do to thank them for their service.