Hi All,
I need some guidance & help and I am at the end of my sanity in writing this post. There is A LOT of detail so please be patient with me because I don't know what is relevant and what is not.
My husband was in the Army, Active Duty, then transferred to the National Guard to go to school. He was injured on AD in an IED blast in Iraq. He was infantry, air assault, airborne, LRS, anything else you need to know, just ask. The IED explosion caused permanent nerve damage in his back & knees, TBI, and the swelling left him paralyzed for 3 days.
In 2009 his PTSD presented starting his PEB process. About 4 years later after countless appointments, tons of back and forth, and finally a chance conversation with then SecDef Chuck Hagel, his board got done. The VA awarded him 80% and the Army 70% in his PEB. We have been participating in the Caregiver program through the VA as well. All was going ok, I was a full time caregiver for him and our 2 kids who both have autism.
In Jul 2015, without any notice or warning the pay he was getting through DFAS as eRas (which I now know was an error) stopped. It took 6 months to figure out why the stop and the issues surrounding that income. During that time we spoke with the State Transition Assistance Office, DFAS, the VA, and even a State Senator's aid. We were told nto to worry and it would all get sorted and we would get back-paid accordingly. We used our savings, pulled money from my 401K based on this information which ended-up just putting us in a debt hole we have yet to even being to see the light from. (My fault for trusting what I was told but I didn't know better at the time) DFAS apparently never got a CRSC (Special Compensation) packet after the PEB was compelted. Went through the Transition Assistance Officer and submitted it by mail twice, the Senator's aid twice, and then in Sep 2018 to our State Congressman for help.
Found out that CRSC could be submitted online through the Army HRC website since 2008 which no one we had helping us knew about. Got my husband's CRSC done and sent to DFAS end of Nov 2018. Backing up to that pay stoppage 7/2015, we were being paid as if he had retired w/ 20 years of service not 10 years and a PEB. We got a debt notice, which we were told not to pay, for ~$52K. The exact phrasing used was that there was clearly an error in this and we don't want to pay on something we should be getting via the CRSC anyway becasue then there is a next to impossible chance of getting that money back.
Back to the present working with our Congressman, we had been "ball-parked" the amount of CRSC pay as $1500-$1800 a month. The CRSC was dated for 8/1/2013 so that is roughly 63-65 months of total back pay we would owe. We also submitted a Form 2789 for the $52K debt that is now with a collection agency requesting $76K. The reason outlined on the form was it was an error that was not made by us nor was the error known to us and the money taken and not reported. The debt is a huge amount for a small family with a Medically retired Vet let alone adding in 2 kids with special needs. Still waiting on the word of that decision.
On 1/23/2019 a CRSC stub finally showed in DFAS... I was thrilled for about 30 sec. Here is what it showed:
(Left Side) Payment Information:
CSRC Amount: 272.00
CRSC Debt Deduction: 0.00
CRSC Garnishment Deduction: 126.89
CRSC Net Pay: 145.11
(Right Side) Entitlement Information:
Retired Pay Before Deductions: 1918.00
Retired Pay Offset by DVA Compensation: 1934.69
Branch of Military Service: ARMY
Garnishment Withheld: YES
THE DVA OR YOUR BRANCH OF SERVICE PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING
CRSC Monthly Compensation Code: 00
Unemployable: NO
DVA Disability %: 80
Combat Related Disability %: 70
Purple Hear %: 40
CRSC Start Date: AUG, 01, 2013
Special Monthly Compensation Start Date: BLANK
REMARKS
Garnishment amount fo $126.89 is for monthly SBP premium.
SBP premium deduction does not include any past due SBP premium/interest. As of 01/23/2019, your past due SBP balance is: $8747.38. Please see DFAS.mil for: how to make payments on your past due balance; information on CRSC and this statement.
I did try call DFAS to try to get answers on the Waiver, the CRSC calculation, the garnishment, anything. Their phones no matter what path I went down said due unusually high call volumes and longer than normal wait times we cannot take your call at this time. I was then disconnected.
I don't know the math or the calculation for CRSC and reached out to anyone and everyone I could but I have been doing this for years now and I don't know how much more I can fight. We wanted to Survivor benefit in the event something happened to my husband due to the needs of our kids so I am not disputing that but how can there be a past due if we were not getting paid? Isn't that supposed to be a percentage not a flat amount? We both feel powerless, our credit has been trashed, things still aren't resolved, and any back pay we had been owed feels like it has evaporated. This was supposed to be coming to an end not starting a whole new set of unknowns. I work full time for the Department of Health and Human Services in our State so it's a good job but by no means a high paying job. If a company did this to an employee they would be facing damages. Do we have any recourse? Does this CRSC amount look right? Is there a chance this is yet another error?
If you got this far, you are a saint. I appreciate any comments, opinions, advice, I am at the end of my rope here.
I need some guidance & help and I am at the end of my sanity in writing this post. There is A LOT of detail so please be patient with me because I don't know what is relevant and what is not.
My husband was in the Army, Active Duty, then transferred to the National Guard to go to school. He was injured on AD in an IED blast in Iraq. He was infantry, air assault, airborne, LRS, anything else you need to know, just ask. The IED explosion caused permanent nerve damage in his back & knees, TBI, and the swelling left him paralyzed for 3 days.
In 2009 his PTSD presented starting his PEB process. About 4 years later after countless appointments, tons of back and forth, and finally a chance conversation with then SecDef Chuck Hagel, his board got done. The VA awarded him 80% and the Army 70% in his PEB. We have been participating in the Caregiver program through the VA as well. All was going ok, I was a full time caregiver for him and our 2 kids who both have autism.
In Jul 2015, without any notice or warning the pay he was getting through DFAS as eRas (which I now know was an error) stopped. It took 6 months to figure out why the stop and the issues surrounding that income. During that time we spoke with the State Transition Assistance Office, DFAS, the VA, and even a State Senator's aid. We were told nto to worry and it would all get sorted and we would get back-paid accordingly. We used our savings, pulled money from my 401K based on this information which ended-up just putting us in a debt hole we have yet to even being to see the light from. (My fault for trusting what I was told but I didn't know better at the time) DFAS apparently never got a CRSC (Special Compensation) packet after the PEB was compelted. Went through the Transition Assistance Officer and submitted it by mail twice, the Senator's aid twice, and then in Sep 2018 to our State Congressman for help.
Found out that CRSC could be submitted online through the Army HRC website since 2008 which no one we had helping us knew about. Got my husband's CRSC done and sent to DFAS end of Nov 2018. Backing up to that pay stoppage 7/2015, we were being paid as if he had retired w/ 20 years of service not 10 years and a PEB. We got a debt notice, which we were told not to pay, for ~$52K. The exact phrasing used was that there was clearly an error in this and we don't want to pay on something we should be getting via the CRSC anyway becasue then there is a next to impossible chance of getting that money back.
Back to the present working with our Congressman, we had been "ball-parked" the amount of CRSC pay as $1500-$1800 a month. The CRSC was dated for 8/1/2013 so that is roughly 63-65 months of total back pay we would owe. We also submitted a Form 2789 for the $52K debt that is now with a collection agency requesting $76K. The reason outlined on the form was it was an error that was not made by us nor was the error known to us and the money taken and not reported. The debt is a huge amount for a small family with a Medically retired Vet let alone adding in 2 kids with special needs. Still waiting on the word of that decision.
On 1/23/2019 a CRSC stub finally showed in DFAS... I was thrilled for about 30 sec. Here is what it showed:
(Left Side) Payment Information:
CSRC Amount: 272.00
CRSC Debt Deduction: 0.00
CRSC Garnishment Deduction: 126.89
CRSC Net Pay: 145.11
(Right Side) Entitlement Information:
Retired Pay Before Deductions: 1918.00
Retired Pay Offset by DVA Compensation: 1934.69
Branch of Military Service: ARMY
Garnishment Withheld: YES
THE DVA OR YOUR BRANCH OF SERVICE PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING
CRSC Monthly Compensation Code: 00
Unemployable: NO
DVA Disability %: 80
Combat Related Disability %: 70
Purple Hear %: 40
CRSC Start Date: AUG, 01, 2013
Special Monthly Compensation Start Date: BLANK
REMARKS
Garnishment amount fo $126.89 is for monthly SBP premium.
SBP premium deduction does not include any past due SBP premium/interest. As of 01/23/2019, your past due SBP balance is: $8747.38. Please see DFAS.mil for: how to make payments on your past due balance; information on CRSC and this statement.
I did try call DFAS to try to get answers on the Waiver, the CRSC calculation, the garnishment, anything. Their phones no matter what path I went down said due unusually high call volumes and longer than normal wait times we cannot take your call at this time. I was then disconnected.
I don't know the math or the calculation for CRSC and reached out to anyone and everyone I could but I have been doing this for years now and I don't know how much more I can fight. We wanted to Survivor benefit in the event something happened to my husband due to the needs of our kids so I am not disputing that but how can there be a past due if we were not getting paid? Isn't that supposed to be a percentage not a flat amount? We both feel powerless, our credit has been trashed, things still aren't resolved, and any back pay we had been owed feels like it has evaporated. This was supposed to be coming to an end not starting a whole new set of unknowns. I work full time for the Department of Health and Human Services in our State so it's a good job but by no means a high paying job. If a company did this to an employee they would be facing damages. Do we have any recourse? Does this CRSC amount look right? Is there a chance this is yet another error?
If you got this far, you are a saint. I appreciate any comments, opinions, advice, I am at the end of my rope here.
