Who can charge you for VA claim help

Federal rules decide who may help with a VA claim and when anyone may be paid. If someone wants money before VA has made its first decision, that is the first thing to check.

If someone has offered to handle your VA disability claim for money, the rule that decides what happens next is short. Only a person VA has recognized may act as an agent or attorney in preparing, presenting or prosecuting a claim. Even then, an accredited attorney or claims agent may not charge you for work done before VA makes its first decision on your claim.

That leaves three kinds of people who can legally help: an accredited veterans service organization (VSO) representative, an accredited attorney and an accredited claims agent. A VSO is a group VA has recognized to help claimants. Its representatives don't charge for their work as VSO representatives, and VA says what they do on your claim is always free. VA's own fraud page covers the rest in one line: "Do not pay ANYONE to help you file an initial claim for benefits."

Filing the claim itself is in our guide to filing a VA disability claim after separation. Reviewing a decision is in our guide to VA decision review options.

What counts as helping with a claim

The word that matters is "preparing." VA's Office of General Counsel (OGC), which runs accreditation, says preparing a claim generally includes advising someone who plans to file, gathering evidence, and filling out VA forms. VA defines it by the work, so anyone who does those things for a claimant needs accreditation.

Unaccredited people can offer other services, but not that help. VA says all attorneys who help with VA claims generally must be accredited, including those who work for free.

One narrow exception exists. VA can authorize a person to help with a particular claim if that person and the claimant sign a statement that no compensation will be charged or paid. It carries a one-time limit, which the General Counsel can waive in unusual circumstances, and VA's September 2026 notice says these claims services are always free.

An accredited VSO representative can help you gather evidence, file a claim or request a decision review, and VA says that help is always free. If you're still on active duty, our BDD claim checklist covers filing before you separate.

How to check someone's accreditation

VA's OGC runs a public Accreditation and Recognition Search. One part finds individuals (attorneys, claims agents and VSO representatives); the other finds VA-recognized VSOs. You can fill in every box or only one. Don't type AND or OR, because the tool searches for those letters.

The search shows only people and organizations that are currently accredited or recognized. If it returns nothing, VA says the person or organization isn't currently authorized to represent claimants, though an application may be pending. The data refreshes three evenings a week, so a new accreditation may not show yet.

The pitch itself can tell you something. VSAFE.gov, a federal fraud-prevention site for veterans, lists four signs of a claims predator: they guarantee a benefit, charge a fee to "help" process claims, promise to speed up claims or raise your rating, or refuse payment from VA and expect all payments from you. The FTC warns about people who say they are "approved" by VA and charge to help you apply, and says to say no if anyone pressures you to sign over a share of your benefits.

When a fee is allowed

The statute draws the line at VA's first decision. No fee may be charged, allowed or paid for an agent's or attorney's services before the claimant gets notice of VA's initial decision on the case. The regulation sets the rule for afterward: an accredited agent or attorney may charge for representation once VA has issued that notice and the power of attorney and fee agreement requirements are met.

The regulation states two exceptions. One is a proceeding about a VA home loan under chapter 37 of title 38, where a reasonable fee may be charged even though these conditions are not met. The other lets a disinterested third party, one that gains nothing from the outcome of your claim, pay the fee. It does not let anyone charge you.

VA.gov puts it as three things that must all be true. VA has made a decision on your initial claim. VA has received a fee agreement signed by you and the accredited attorney or claims agent. And VA has received your VA Form 21-22a.

OGC's tips for veterans state the other side. An attorney or claims agent may never charge, or accept a fee or gift, for helping prepare and file an initial claim. That includes gathering documents and filling out forms, and doing it is grounds for losing accreditation. A gift in place of a fee is barred too.

OGC's FAQ says accredited agents and attorneys charge only for representation, not for preparing a claim form.

What a fee agreement has to say

A fee agreement must be in writing and signed by both you and the representative. It must contain five things: the veteran's name, the claimant's name if it's someone else, the name of any disinterested third-party payer, the VA file number, and the specific terms that set the amount to be paid.

The agreement also has to say clearly whether VA will pay the fee directly. There are two kinds, and the parties choose one, not both. In a direct-pay agreement, VA pays the representative out of your past-due benefits. The total can't exceed 20 percent, and the fee must depend entirely on a favorable result. In the other kind, the representative collects from you without VA's help. Mixing in a fixed or hourly fee defeats direct payment.

OGC's tips say an agreement may not restrict VA from contacting you. With a direct-pay agreement, the representative, not you, must file a copy with VA within 30 days of signing.

What counts as a reasonable fee

Every fee has to be reasonable. It can be a fixed fee, an hourly rate, a percentage of benefits recovered, or a mix. VA weighs ten factors, including the work done, the complexity of the case, the time spent and the results achieved.

The statute says a fee that doesn't exceed 20 percent of the past-due benefits awarded on a claim is presumed reasonable. The regulation repeats that presumption, if the representation continued through the decision awarding benefits, and adds a second line: a fee over 33 1/3 percent is presumed unreasonable. The 33 1/3 percent line isn't in the statute, and the regulation says either presumption can be overcome with clear and convincing evidence.

"Past-due benefits" means the lump sum that built up between the effective date of the award and the date of the grant.

For direct-pay agreements, 20 percent is a ceiling, not just a presumption. For a fee you pay yourself, OGC says there is no absolute cap, but above 33 1/3 percent the representative must give VA clear and convincing evidence that the fee is reasonable.

On direct-pay fees, VA also charges the representative an assessment, taken out of the fee VA pays directly. It is 5 percent of the fee, up to $100, and the representative may not get it back from you.

Appointing and ending a representative

Before a representative can act for you, VA needs a power of attorney on VA Form 21-22 or 21-22a. It lets them represent you and lets VA share your information with them. VA.gov says to use Form 21-22 for an accredited VSO representative and Form 21-22a, "Appointment of Individual as Claimant's Representative," for an attorney or claims agent. You and the representative both sign.

VA recognizes only one representative at a time on a particular claim, and a new power of attorney generally revokes the old one.

You can end it at any time. VA's FAQ says you can discharge your accredited representative "at any time and for any reason." Call 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711) or mail a letter to Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547.

If a fee looks wrong

VA's fact sheet on challenging a fee allocation says you have 60 days from the date of the fee allocation notice to ask OGC for a fee review. The regulation agrees: a request is timely if filed within 60 days of the notice. Without a timely OGC request or a timely appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, the default fee allocation is final and VA may release the fee.

That 60-day process took effect April 1, 2025, and applies to notices issued on or after that date. VA issues a fee allocation notice when a direct-pay fee agreement has been filed and a decision awards past-due benefits. The 60 days count from that notice.

One OGC document, "How to Challenge a Fee," last updated December 11, 2024, tells claimants they have 120 days from the date of the final VA action to file a motion for review of a fee agreement, and OGC's page still lists it. That document rests on a version of the rule that VA rewrote effective April 1, 2025. The rewritten fee-review paragraph covers only fee allocation notices and has no 120-day text. For a fee you pay the representative yourself, the rule gives no deadline, and VA's pages don't say which limit applies. OGC takes questions at 202-461-7699.

The rule doesn't say what happens if the 60th day falls on a weekend or holiday, so file before it.

The request must be in writing. A letter or a typed electronic message works, and a phone call doesn't. It needs the names of the veteran and every attorney or agent who represented them, the VA file number, the date of the decision awarding benefits, and your proposal for a reasonable fee with your reasons. Send it by email to OGC-FeeReviewRequests@va.gov, or by mail to Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel (022D), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420.

OGC notifies the other parties, who have 30 days to respond. It then issues a fee reasonableness decision that can be appealed to the Board.

A different objection goes to a different place. If your argument is that the representative is legally ineligible to be paid at all, VA's fact sheet says to file VA Form 10182 with the Board instead of asking OGC for a fee review. The statute also lets VA review a fee agreement on its own or at your request, and order a reduction if it finds the fee excessive or unreasonable.

Where to report a problem

OGC's complaint guide says to file a complaint about someone assisting with VA pension benefits through the FTC's complaint link. For help on a compensation claim, it says you may also use that link if you think other state or federal law was broken. You can file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and VA's accreditation program is told immediately of every complaint filed through that link. The FTC adds that you should then tell your state attorney general.

For an accredited attorney, claims agent or VSO representative who has broken only VA's standards of conduct, OGC's route is a written complaint and a completed VA Form 3288. They go to Office of the General Counsel (022D), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420.

What VA can do is limited. For someone without accreditation, OGC may write a cease-and-desist letter and may refer the matter to other law enforcement. For an accredited person, an excessive fee or a breach of VA's standards of conduct can be grounds for canceling accreditation.

OGC says its complaint process is not a substitute for a civil claim. Against an accredited practitioner, it says, the only action it can take is discipline, and it generally cannot take money or property from the practitioner to return to you. The statute adds that if VA suspends or excludes an agent or attorney for collecting more than the law allows, the suspension continues until the agent or attorney makes full restitution to each claimant who paid it.

OGC's fact sheet lists other places to file a complaint: your state attorney general or the FTC if someone is trying to sell you something that "poaches" your VA pension, your state insurance regulator for an annuity or other insurance product, your state bar or state attorney general if a lawyer behaved unethically or a non-lawyer is practicing law without authority, and VA's Office of Inspector General at 1-800-488-8244 for a crime against VA programs. It doesn't say any of these will return money you paid. The VSAFE hotline, 833-38V-SAFE (833-388-7233), takes reports of suspected fraud.

What the law does and doesn't do

The federal penalty section of the VA benefits law, 38 U.S.C. 5905, now punishes only someone who wrongfully withholds a benefit that is allowed and due. A 2006 law struck its earlier language, so since December 22, 2006, that law has carried no penalty for charging an unauthorized fee. That doesn't make such a charge lawful. VSAFE.gov says it is unlawful for anyone to charge a claimant a fee for preparing an initial claim.

Two House bills, both introduced February 27, 2025, would change the federal rules, and neither is law. As of October 4, 2026, H.R. 1732, the GUARD VA Benefits Act, is pending: it would fine anyone who solicits, charges or receives a fee for preparing, presenting or prosecuting a VA claim, except as federal law allows, and its latest action was a committee hearing on March 18, 2026.

H.R. 1656, the PLUS for Veterans Act of 2025, is also pending: as introduced, it would allow fee agreements on initial claims capped at the lesser of $12,500 or five times the monthly increase in benefits, with no payment required before VA's initial decision, reinstate penalties for unauthorized fees (a fine, up to one year in prison, or both) and supersede state laws inconsistent with it, and its latest action was referral to a subcommittee on March 3, 2025.

Several states have their own rules. Some ban pay for veterans benefits help except as federal law permits. North Carolina sets conditions for paid help on an initial disability claim. Louisiana bars pay for referrals, for pension claims and for services on a claim filed within one year after release from active duty, and sets conditions for other paid help. A state statute sets state terms. It doesn't make anyone accredited, because accreditation comes from VA's notice.

On April 1, 2025, the Third Circuit said New Jersey's law likely burdens speech, vacated a lower court's denial of a preliminary injunction and sent the case back. That ruling concerns the state law, not VA's accreditation rules.

Other bills have stalled. Kansas lawmakers passed HB 2626, a veterans bill that included a "SAVE act" on paid help. It would have allowed pay only if contingent on an increase in benefits and capped at five times the monthly increase or $12,500, whichever is less, with no upfront fee, and it barred pay for referrals, and barred pay on a claim filed within one year after release from active duty unless the veteran signed a waiver. The governor vetoed it on April 8, 2026, and an attempt to override the veto failed on April 9, 2026. Vermont's H.103 had House committee hearings on February 24 and 25, 2026, with no later action recorded.

One example, start to finish

Example (fictional) Tyrell Banks is a 29-year-old Navy petty officer second class who got out in January 2027. In February, a sales representative offers to handle his disability claim for $1,500, paid up front. The name gets no result in VA's Accreditation Search, which VA says means the person isn't currently authorized. He says no.

He finds an accredited VSO representative in the same search, and they sign VA Form 21-22. It costs him nothing.

VA decides his initial claim on June 15, 2027, and he disagrees with part of it. One attorney proposes 40 percent of past-due benefits, paid by Tyrell himself. On a $10,000 back payment that is $4,000, above the $3,333.33 line where the regulation presumes a fee unreasonable. A second attorney offers a direct-pay agreement at 20 percent, and Tyrell signs it on June 29, 2027. Now all three conditions hold: VA has decided his initial claim, both of them signed the agreement, and Form 21-22a is on file.

Say the review ends with VA awarding $10,000 in past-due benefits. Twenty percent is $2,000, which VA pays the attorney directly from the lump sum, leaving $8,000 for Tyrell. VA takes an assessment of 5 percent of the fee, which comes to the $100 cap, out of what it pays the attorney, and the attorney can't pass it on to him. VA's fee allocation notice is dated November 8, 2027, so counting 60 days from that date, he has until January 7, 2028, to ask OGC for a review. The fee matches his agreement, and he doesn't file one.

This is general information, not advice on your claim or on a fee agreement. It doesn't say which conditions to claim or what to expect from a decision. For free help with your own claim, an accredited VSO representative can help, and VA says that help is always free. You can check anyone in VA's Accreditation Search, reach VA at 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711), or report suspected fraud to VSAFE at 833-38V-SAFE (833-388-7233).