Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Craig Haskell, a Utah veteran, was mistakenly declared dead by the VA.
- This error led to loss of pension and disability benefits, totaling $10,000.
- After five months, benefits were restored following media intervention; the VA apologized for the inconvenience.
PAYSON — Craig Haskell is a Utah National Guard veteran who looks very much alive, but he's dead. So declares the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"Horrible mistake," Haskell said of the situation. "But just needs to be corrected."
The VA says Haskell died on Nov. 22, 2024. A certificate signed by President Donald Trump honoring his memory even showed up in the mail. But Haskell says the mistake has been costly.
Pension benefits gone
"The pension benefits and all those are gone," he said.
No pension. No disability benefits. Haskell says he is owed over $10,000 – and counting.
"So, I started making phone calls and meetings with VA people to try to get things resolved," Haskell said.
Despite five months of affidavits, calls and in-person meetings, Haskell says his VA benefits have not been resurrected. That's even after sending an obituary for another Utah veteran named Craig Haskell. He died on Nov. 22, 2024. Same first and last names. Same alleged death date. Seems like bad data entry could be the cause of our Craig Haskell's demise.
"Someone hurrying too fast to do their job," Haskell surmised.
Pension restarted
Still not able to get the mistake corrected, he tapped in the KSL Investigators. We reached out to the VA's public relations team to ask why the benefits can't be restarted for our Craig Haskell. They called back the next day, telling us his benefits had been turned back on just that very morning.
Oh no – it didn't have anything to do with our inquiry, we were told. The timing just worked out that way.
A VA spokesperson sent us this statement:
"VA resumed Mr. Haskell's benefits payments on April 25 and is still assessing any retroactive payments. We regret the error and apologize for the inconvenience."
More than a 30-day deal
So now, though Craig Haskell never stopped breathing, he can now breathe easier. Still, he says this shouldn't have taken five months.
"To me, it should be a 30-day deal."
According to the VA, it has over 877,000 active claims on its hands right now. That's more than twice the amount this time five years ago. The average decision on a claim takes 131.5 days for the VA. Haskell's fight for his benefits took nearly 150 days.
