The VA began the process of recouping last fall’s emergency advance GI Bill payments this week. Although many veterans had followed instructions and made arrangements to repay the VA at a reduced rate, the Department of Veterans Affairs Debt Management Center’s automated system began taking $750 a month from their benefit payments.
On April 3, the VA acknowledged that a recoupment glitch had “snagged a number of veterans accidentally,” taking larger amounts from their benefit payment than was expected and some veterans received no benefit for the month of March; leaving vets financially pinched - again.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) received several letters from veterans being hit by the higher repayment rate. In addition, the IAVA reports at least one case of a veteran who is being evicted due to the financial hardship caused by the unstable payment issues associated with the GI Bill.
The VA has stated that they will begin restoring the March benefit payments as soon as possible and that effected vets do not need to take action, the VA will be making the necessary refunds within a week.
Here is a statement issued by the VA on this matter:
Advance Pay Recoupment Issues
April 3, 2010 9:05 AM
Many of you have commented on the fact that your Advance Payment recoupment was more than the amount you asked VA’s Debt Management Center (DMC) to withhold from your April benefit. We hear you loud and clear and we’re looking into some glitches in the system that snagged a number of people accidentally. We should have the issue solved within a few days.
Everyone is going to get all the money to which they are entitled. We understand that a number of student Veterans did not receive their March education benefit as expected on April 1 because of an error in the process of recovering funds for the Fall 2009 advance payments. For some student Veterans, the full amount of the benefit was deducted to recover the advance payment when a lesser amount should have been deducted. VA’s actions to refund this error are underway.
Letters will be sent within the next 48 hours to everyone affected by the issue either by email or through the United States Postal Service. We apologize for the inconvenience this inadvertently caused Veterans and their families. We ask for your patience as we resolve this important issue. We will update with any changes to our progress of correcting the error.
You do not need to take any action; VA is working with the U.S Department of the Treasury to refund the over-collections. Payments will be issued to student Veterans within a week.
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Thanks to Patrick Campbell of the IAVA for bringing this to my attention.
Terry Howell
I knew about this a few dyas ago and this is the first story I've seen. They kept my entire payment. This has been a nightmare. Fall payments delayed by 2 months. Spring by 3. Got one payment in March and now this. VA has really dropped the ball on this and there are no excuses. Time for Shinseki to step down. We need people from corporate America to fix the issues at the VA.
you want to hear how upset we are, so you can figure out how far to push the envelope? you understand some of us were out on the front line, don't you? I refuse to believe all these 'errors' are just happening to the veterans and not the other way around… there is never a 'glitch' or DELAY when it time to collect from us… our hearts are already broken, so whatever the reason for this behavior is futile… I feel sorry for the innocent people that have to suffer when some poor veteran looses his mind and snaps on a crowd of people…
I've been affraid of contacting Embry Riddle becuse I saw their admission requirements. They looked worse (higher) than ASU (Arizona State University) from where I've been denied twice! Mainly since they don't accept SMART transcripts and I never had time to take that many college courses while on active duty. It interfered with the watch schedule too much.
But I guess at this point I may as well ask Embry Riddle anyways if I can get in. Several other colleges I contacted this week say their only 60% covered for flight training.
And the only problem with Spartan college in Tulsa, OK was their tuition fees "which may not be paid by financial aide" including VA benefits. Other than that, they could accept ASVAB testsing as enrollment requirements. 4,000 dollar flight-tuition. 1,000 dollar for tuition into anything else was what they told me. I have barely enough money for application fees and VA won't even pay those!
Another letter, really? How about stop with with the letters to tell us you made another mistake, or there is going to be another delay on our payment and just send us the money we are entitled. GI Bill pays for school….. hmmmm…. Well I paid for my school the VA has slowly reimbursed me but if I consider all the overdrafts, high interest rates, late fees that they have caused due to improper timely payments, then I have paid for my school. This has gone to far, something needs to be done to fix this situation.
So i am veteran that is going to school. because of the many hick ups in the VA system i have had to basically get rid of everything i own. i have tried to counter all problems that we have all experienced with new GI Bill. i sold my truck so i didn't have a vehicle payment, i ride a bike to school thinking that i would save gas money and vehicle repairs. this month i had the bearings go out on one of my tires. well i thought no big deal i should have plenty of money this month even after rent groceries and two other small bills. so i checked my bank account before i decided to get my bike fixed. and i was suprised to see that i received $163.00. as of now i have no money and i just spent the last of my savings on thirty five dollars worth of groceries. i am really wondering how the heck i am going to make it through the rest of this month. i still have utilities to pay and now because i can't fix my bike i am walking to school. even though i am only walking a mile i live in Wyoming. so i guess someday when i have kids and its a blizzard outside i can tell my kids yeah i used to walk to school and back everyday in weather like this when i was twenty eight.
i understand that accidents will happen. but, this is getting absolutely ridiculous. i am with the rest of ya. i held out as long as i could before i was forced into getting the emergency fund. but the bills were piling up and the bank was calling me wanting to know when i was going to put money in my account. they didn't care. they wanted their money and so do we. i suggest that some people start getting off their butts or you start holding their pay on the 1st and 15th. if you were to do that then maybe they could feel a little bit of the pain that we are experiencing.
Sorry for the rant and although i am angry i still have the utmost respect for the VA. you do wonderful things. but there is nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism. i am tired of hearing that you are continuing to make mistakes. Shape up or ship out as my, crusty WWII veteran Grandfather used to say, and start sending letters out to tell us about how you are going to fix the problem.
I still as of today have not had my claimed processed for spring. They have had my claim since Jan 25 is anyone going through this.
Sorry, this is in reply to veterans having to only get a tax exempt from their retirement pay who are also disabled and should get two paychecks, one for their full retirement and one for their disability.
Regarding GI Bill, I serve for 9/11 and because of such chaos with veterans not getting the right info and getting surprise messages to payback what was given them, I'm sitting here waiting. The sad part is the administration that is in charge of taking care of our benefits and getting us the right information, are STILL GETTING PAID for screwing up! They're not even doing their job right and get paid, wow! All the more I feel quite right about serving our country with enduring sacrifices knowing I did do it RIGHT! God bless those who serve and those are truly trying to make things RIGHT for us.
Ok there are alot of people here that aparently have bum information on the Post 911 GI Bill so I'll try to help you out. If you have previously already used the old GI Bill you can still sign up for the Post 911. I was never in this situation so I cant guarantee what level of benifits you get. I personally never paid into the GI Bill, but you didnt have to for post 911. I signed a statement defering the original GI Bill that I didnt qualify for anyways as I hadn't paid into it ….. in favor of the 911. Basically if you want it you have to defer the remainder of your original GI Bill in favor of the 911 bill or use the original up, then apply for the post 911 essentially getting both. According to everything I've read this is possible but the VA determines the payment percentage so i doubt you get a full 100% on the 911 in this senario so talk to a counselor and get the facts straight before you sign anything.
Once you have submitted your paperwork the VA determines what percentage they are going to pay. You can get an idea of where you will most likely place by calling a rep counselor the phones are busy alot so make shure you call first thing (adjust for timezone the VA office is in). The 911 bill pays you at E5 payscale it counts if you have dependants or children and it can be transferred to your kids if you meet specific requirements you can have a packet mailed to you from VA detailing it or go to the VA websight. I mailed my paperwork in the first day possible last year when it first oppened up and got my response 3 weeks later and my statement of benifits 3 months from the day I sent in my application ( i was on active duty at the time, results may varry). I registered for classes in January for a session that started on March 22. You will bet paid at the end of each month by April first I had a direct deposit for $660.+ covering the 22-30th.
So the moral of the story is you have to set things up in advance and be prepared with a decent savings to cover yourself if you plan to go to school. You can get paid your monthly stipend during regular school breaks like summer, but the VA will take away from the educational portion of your alotment so it's better to go full time untill you meet your educational goal. Different schools have different full time requirements, and they change for each semmester. for instance during this summer I am only taking 2 classes but they give me enough credit hours to qualify for the monthly stipend one is 5 credits the second 3. Basically the only way to ensure you future is take the bull by the horns I feel for all the Nam Vets that are confused on what the situation is all I can say is go to the VA websight and figure out what percentage you qualify for fill out the post 911 form only when your sure you dont want to use the rest of the original bill…. good luck.
Other things I learned from my college experience…..Buy a computer and printer it's practically mandatory unless you want to live on the college campus even then good luck using a public library when you need to type a 11page english paper, you get like 30min usage at a time….also most of my teachers put their assignments online and update them online only so unless you want to go check your e-mail daily at the library every day get your own computer, sometimes rooms change(happened to me first day of my economics class), or class hours, or the teacher is absent for personel reasons you'll save more on gass and headaches in the long run if you get a computer/printer and use it from day 1.
Make shure you sign up for the matriculation test and have submitted your highschool transcripts and mapped out your degree plan with a counselor prior to visiting the VA reps on campus to get your benifits paid. The VA will not pay for classes that are not towards your specific degree plan. For instance i am going for accounting wich is a buisness degree. I decided to go straight for a bachelors degree ( you dont need an associates) So I must complete 60 credits before I transfer to a state school. The VA will only pay for classes I take that meet my specific educational requirements for transfer. The VA will also only pay me a monthly stipend if i meet full time credit hours for each semmester. If you drop classes YOU PAY FOR THEM….dont bite off more then you can chew. Good luck god bless.
Read more: Senate Looks at GI Bill Fixes | Military.com
This is all well and good, but how does that trickle down to the veteran. Much of the difficulties with the Post 9/11 GI Bill are wrapped up in the VA itself and the State Approving Agencies, these are the people who approve the programs for GI Bill payments.
Senator John Ensign (R-NV) is introducing two bills, S.1784 and S.1785 in an effort to remove some of the Red Tape caused by the law and the huge bureaucracy of the VA and allow veterans to pursue their educational goals unhampered just like any other non-veteran student is able to do.
Please contact your Senators and urge them to become either co0-sponsors of these two bills, or at least to vote for their passage into law.
Denis,
Check out UNLV in Nevada for flight training. They accept SMART transcripts.
someone said they would have never taken the advance if they would have known about this kind of behavior on behalf of the VA, hell I'll go one better, I'd have never enlisted if I knew the promises were so fragile.
UPDATE: still no refund from my latest call on the 27th (8 days ago) but fortunately for jp morgan chase, but checking account is @ negative $400 and dropping, funny thing is, if I would have been paid on the 1st the correct amount (without deducting $1,400) none of this would have happened.. SO PLEASE TELL ME VA… HOW THE FUCK IS THIS NOT YOUR FAULT?!?
So the VA took the full 3000 out of the 4500 that they owed me, without asking. Not surprising. That means I end up with 1500. Check should be deposited 3-5 days. So that means the deal is if you call 5 senators, you will get paid. Hope this helps someone. :)
Ever since I faxed my congressperson about my situation, I haven't had any problems with my pay. I did this back in August of 2009. My spring semester pay was on time and now even my summer tuition has already been posted to my school account. Yes, I took the 3K advance and have had 250 taken out each month. That went very well. I e-mailed the request form with a read receipt and haven't had any issues there. Good luck to all of you.
Oh and also sent the same fax to the White House, my senator and Senator Webb.
how bout this…..i started school august.. started getting paid late december, dropped out in january and certified my enrollment till last month. I only did a certificate school. now im wondering when they will catch me…… how will they know i dropped out because they said they had to pay me under the montgomery bill because the 9/11 doesn't pay for certificate programs i have actually lived off this money ……what is next…….can somebody say waiver…..