Printing - FECA-PT2 - National Association of Letter Carriers

. Should an application be submitted which is missing any item cited in 6.a(1)a-d above, it
will be returned to the representative with a letter advising him or her to resubmit the fee
application with the identified missing item(s). See 20 C.F.R. § 10.703(a)(2). The National
Correspondence Library contains a letter for this purpose.
However, if the application is missing the claimant's signed statement of agreement or
disagreement (as described in 6.a(2) above); the CE must submit the fee application directly to the
claimant and provide him or her with an opportunity (30 days) to agree with, or submit a
statement or evidence disputing, said application. If a statement is received, the CE will follow the
procedures outlined at either 6.c or 6.d below, depending on the nature of the claimant's response.
If no response is received, the CE will then either approve or deny the fee request on the basis of
"whether the amount of the fee is substantially in excess of the value of services received" by
evaluating the factors outlined at 20 U.S.C. § 10.703(c). (See also 6.d(1)-(4) below.)
c. Approval Where There is No Dispute. Where a fee application is accompanied by a signed
statement indicating the claimant's agreement with the fee (as described in paragraph 6.a(2)
above), the application will be deemed approved. See 20 C.F.R. § 10.703(b).
While this is similar to the procedures prior to the regulatory change effective January 4, 1999, in
those instances where the claimant has specifically agreed to the charges as submitted by the
representative, OWCP personnel are no longer required to evaluate the services provided or the
hourly rate at which the claimant was charged in order to determine the propriety of the
representative's fees.
Instead, the fees will be deemed approved and a simple notice confirming such approval will be
issued to avoid any confusion on this matter. The National Correspondence Library contains a
letter for this purpose entitled "Representative Fee Approval."
d. Disputed Requests. Where the claimant disagrees with the amount of the fee, as
indicated in the statement accompanying the application, OWCP will evaluate the objection and
issue a formal decision that approves, modifies, or denies the fee. (See Exhibit 1 for a sample
decision.) In order to make this determination, OWCP will provide a copy of the fee request to the
claimant and ask him or her to provide any additional information in support of his or her objection
within 15 days from the date the fee request was forwarded to the claimant. See 20 C.F.R. §
10.703(c).
After that period has passed, OWCP will evaluate any information received to determine whether
the amount of the fee is substantially in excess of the value of the services received by examining
the following factors:
(1) Usefulness of the Representative's Services. The CE should take into account the
advantages which the claimant received by having a representative. What was at issue?
Was the representative, by reason of knowledge, experience, etc., able to accomplish that
which would have been difficult or unlikely for the claimant to accomplish without such aid?
The impediments to the claim and the evidence submitted to overcome them should be
discussed briefly, as well as any other pertinent facts about the worth of the
representative's services.
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