This has no pertinent relevance to HCV claims, but I include it here to illustrate that VA does keep track of you and your claim. You would be foolish to think otherwise. This deranged Vet filed in 1946 and received a 70% rating. He had to keep going to exams to keep his rating and started stepping on his necktie. By 1962, they had reduced him down to 30% which I suspect is still more than he deserved. Now he is returning to claim CUE (Clear and Unmistakable Error) in the 1962 decision. CUE is the hardest thing to win in this game. You have to prove VA screwed up. They wrote the rules as to what constitutes CUE and you have to follow them. There is no Benefit of the Doubt with CUE. In addition, you have to go by the law as it was written at the time of the decision. You cannot use legal precedents set after your denial to defend a CUE claim. It makes for a pretty skinny defense unless you can prove they screwed you. Oh, and you have to be very specific on what it is they did to deprive you of your rating. Its a pretty tall order for a law dog, let alone a Vet in the woods.

The other salient point I wanted to illuminate was the fact that should you attempt to defraud the VA, they will mount up a posse and come after you. I guess I don’t have to point out all the assets they have at hand to do this. It’s akin to the FBI coming after a band of inept terrorists. Wiretaps, undercover investigators and investigation of your banking practices are all fair game. Keep that in mind before you start to assume you’re dealing with a bunch of overworked chuckleheads. Trust me. You are not. They may have been born at night, but they were not born last night. They can drive by your house and figure out the jet skis and the fishing boat. They have access to SSA records and know if and where you work. This might sound like a Conspiracy Theory. Should you wish to test the theory and sail into the perfect $hitstorm, be my guest and try it. The VA will do anything to deprive you of a rating if you’re not entitled to it. That’s what they do and I might add, they do it very well. Get used to it.

http://www.va.gov/vetapp08/Files1/0803241.txt