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Vets can now file some VA claims online

Initial claims for a variety of veterans’ benefits now can be filed online, Veterans Affairs Department officials announced Wednesday.

The announcement marks a step toward modernizing the much-derided VA claims process that could result in more people filing claims, but could also shorten the processing time because it would require essential information to be included.

Applications are available at VA’s Web site.

VA officials call this process VAONAPPS, an abbreviation of “VA online applications.”

Applying electronically for claims is not new to VA, but the new process eliminates the requirement that applicants also send paper claims bearing their signatures, which some veterans’ groups have aid defeats the very purpose of electronic applications.

Jerry Manar, deputy director of Veterans of Foreign Wars’ National Veterans Service, said requiring a paper signature to follow an electronic claim “often results in substantial delays.”

“These changes eliminate the physical signature requirement, which allows VA the opportunity to begin development more quickly,” Manar said. “It also eliminates the opportunity for a denial simply because a claimant failed to submit a piece of paper.

“These are positive steps. We hope that VA makes the most of this new procedure,” he said.

VA’s Web site accepts first-time applications for disability pay and pensions, GI Bill education benefits, education benefits for survivors and dependents, and applications for vocational rehabilitation. Applications for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for surviving spouses and children, for life insurance and for home loans are not available online.

Mick Wortell, the deputy director for business process integration in the VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration, called the move a “first step to achieve a paperless system” and said that expansion to include other types of claims is expected. Other applications will be added as they are developed, he said.

Anyone who has a pending benefits claim, is receiving benefits or is applying for an increase in benefits should not use the online application, VA officials said.

In some cases, but not all, applicants will be able to attach electronic copies of supporting documents to their claim.

In a statement, VA officials said the online application process should reduce the number of incomplete applications, save on postage for veterans and their families, and avoid problems with applications being delayed or lost in the mail.

Wartell said information is secure because each user will have their own password-protected account.

Of course, filing an application online is not fool-proof.

VA officials warn that time limits apply when completing a form. If a person starts filling out the application but pauses, such as stopping to locate a document, the Web site will shut down for them after 20 minutes. There is a warning after 15 minutes that the shutdown is coming.

Information on an uncompleted form is saved for 30 days, so an applicant can start and stop the process until they are ready to submit it, VA officials said.

If a power outage occurs, VA officials said applicants would lose any information they have not saved.

Online claims filing is not for everyone, Wartell said. Some veterans will be comfortable with the new process while others will want to keep filing paper claims, he said, nothing there are no plans to have a completely paperless system.