By Larry Dandridge
This is the culmination of a series of four articles on managing debt to the VA. It aims to equip you with more knowledge, inspire veterans’ family members, friends, and coworkers to advocate for their veterans, and provide VSO contact information.
Read more than what is in these Articles. These four articles could not cover everything military members, veterans, veterans’ family members, Veterans Service Officers, VA-accredited claims agents, VA-accredited attorneys, and others need to know about this complex subject.
For more information on “Managing Debt to the VA,” reach out to the VA and your local VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer (VSO), explore the resources at https://bit.ly/46ASJxB, and refer to the VA and The Island News web pages in this article and the last three articles.
Question 8
What should veterans do if they cannot pay all or part of a VA debt?
Veterans should contact the VA within the specified time frame mentioned in their first debt letter. By seeking assistance within the given time, veterans can prevent late fees, interest, or other collection actions
- For VA benefit debt: Veterans can call the VA Debt Management Center at 800-827-0648 (or 1-612-713-6415 from overseas), Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. They can also contact the VA online through Ask VA at https://www.va.gov/contact-us/. If you are a veteran, you can request help with some VA benefit debts online at https://bit.ly/3WPhDpX.
- For VA health care copay debt: Call our Health Resource Center at 866-400-1238, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8 p.m.
If you receive monthly VA benefit payments, the VA will keep all or part of them unless they approve another repayment or relief option.
If the VA referred your debt to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, call the number on your letter immediately.
Question 9
What debt repayment and relief options does the VA offer?
The VA offers four repayment or relief options for benefit-related VA debt:
- Monthly offsets: If the veteran gets VA benefit payments, the VA may keep (or “offset”) part or all of each payment to pay down the veteran’s debt. This is how the VA collects veteran debt unless they approve another option.
- Repayment plan: If veterans cannot pay their full debt balance now, they can ask to make smaller monthly payments.
- Compromise offer: If veterans do not get monthly benefit payments and can’t pay monthly, they can offer a lesser one-time lump sum amount as full payment. If the VA accepts the veteran’s request, the veteran must pay the one-time amount within 30 days.
- Waiver: If even smaller monthly offsets or payments would cause the veteran financial hardship, the veteran can ask the VA to forgive part or all of a debt.
Learn more about waivers at https://bit.ly/3AfQaoI. Read about financial hardship assistance at https://bit.ly/3AfQaoI.
You can find the answers to the following and other additional questions at https://bit.ly/46ASJxB.
- If a veteran cannot repay his or her full debt balance, even overtime, what can he or she do?
- What happens after a veteran requests help with VA debt?
- What should a veteran do if he or she gets a collection call or letter about VA debt?
- What happens if a veteran does not pay or request help within the time limit?
- What happens if the VA refers my debt to the US Treasury?
- Why would a veteran’s social security benefits be kept to pay his or her VA debt?
- What should veterans do if they get a letter about suspended pension debt?
- How does your reason for withdrawing from a class affect your VA debt?
- What did the VA do for veterans between April 6, 2020, and September 30, 2021, debt relief due to COVID-19, and what should veterans know about what the VA is doing now?
Do not despair
The VA and VSOs are there for veterans and their families to help them manage VA debt. VSO services and VA advice are free. Consider what the SC Oconee County Director of Veteran Affairs, Jerry Dyar told this columnist last week: “VA Service Offices around the state should be able to assist their local veterans/survivors with Debt Management issues. In some instances, the debt can be waived entirely. I have been able to help a good number of our clients get those debts waived entirely. Getting an indebtedness waived is possible if the veteran can show the VA’s Debt Management Center (DMC) that paying the debt back would cause a financial hardship plus, the DMC will have to reasonably conclude that the veteran has NOT been willful in creating the debt. Getting total relief from the debt is a doable process in many cases.”
Help from family, friends
Family members and friends need to help veterans and surviving spouses. As Jerry Dyar told me last week, “These … articles are helpful, and the VA web pages are very detailed and helpful, but many elderly and disabled veterans and surviving spouses cannot navigate the VA Debt Management and Relief processes.”
VA VSO search
Veterans can find and appoint a VA-accredited representative (VSO, Attorney, Agent) online at https://bit.ly/3eXpwpO. Veterans can find accredited representatives by using the VA Accreditations search webpage at https://bit.ly/3QnCk5M. Veterans can also search for representatives at VA regional offices at https://bit.ly/3TahNn1.
SC & GA State/County VSOs
Veterans can contact their state Department of Veteran Affairs to find a county or area VSO. The S.C. Department of Veteran Affairs webpage is https://scdva.sc.gov. There is a County Veterans Service Office in each county of S.C. Find S.C. County VSOs at https://bit.ly/3qbLVSL. Find Georgia VSOs at https://bit.ly/44KMVA7.
The bottom line
Some veterans do not own or have access to a computer or phone. Some are computer illiterate. Some have cognitive impairments. And some are homeless. Therefore, veterans, especially elderly and disabled veterans, rely on their family members, friends, and co-workers, Veterans Service Organizations, VSOs, the VA, the States, and others to step up and:
- Check on their veterans.
- Get their veterans to contact a VSO for help.
- Take them to the VSO office.
- Make phone calls for them.
- Notify the VA if the veteran needs help.
- Get veterans registered for VA healthcare.
Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, disabled veteran, ex-Enlisted Infantryman, ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and retired Lt. Colonel. He is a past Veterans Service Officer, a Patient Adviser at the RHJ VA Hospital, the Fisher House Charleston Good Will Ambassador, and the VP for Veteran Affairs for the local Army Association Chapter. Larry is the author of the award-winning book Blades of Thunder and a contributing free-lance writer with the Island News. Contact him at LDandridge@earthlink.net or 843-276-7164.
