Suggestion for better VA experience.

For more than a year 1 have been trying to obtain additional life insurance from the Department of Veterans Affairs under its Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (RH) program. The VA consistently denied me this insurance, claiming I applied too late. They refused to acknowledge that they did not advise me this type of insurance was available. For more than a year I fought them to no avail. Finally, I enlisted the aid of my DAV Chapter, here in Wilmington, N.C., and they got in touch with the right people in the VA. Surprisingly, the VA reconsidered and acknowledged I was not properly advised of the availability of the insurance and had given me $5,000 instead of the $10,000 I was seeking. They claimed since I already had $5,000 with National Service Life Insurance, a total of $10,000 was all I am allowed by law. I would like to suggest that when the VA denies a claim based on a law, they should quote the law. it took me six months to find out which law they were referring to, and I never got an answer from the VA. I had to get it from my representative in Congress. Also, I suggest the VA remove the barrier, rewrite the law if necessary, which prohibits the issuance of more than $10,000 life insurance to any disabled veteran. Lastly, I would like to suggest the VA train or retrain their claims examiners. All the time and expense the VA spent could have been prevented if the claims examiners knew what they were doing in the first place. William F Borer, Hampstead, N.C.