An Army fight veteran now residing within the Midwest was coping with a number of accidents by the point he completed his navy service. He’d suffered a traumatic mind damage after his automobile struck an IED throughout his deployment to Afghanistan within the late 2000s.
But when the veteran, who NCS is figuring out as Adam, filed his incapacity compensation claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs, he felt he was failed on two fronts.
First, the VA course of was complicated, he mentioned, and it took the division 4 months to get again to him – to say he didn’t qualify for any advantages. Then he sought help from an organization that promised to information him by means of the method for a price, solely to nonetheless find yourself with no advantages and a invoice for hundreds of {dollars}.
“They pretty much did jack sh*t for me,” mentioned Adam, referring to the skin firm. He requested to be recognized by a pseudonym to guard his privateness.
Adam’s story is one which has performed out with veterans for many years.
Veterans are supposed to have the ability to get these funds by submitting for his or her advantages straight by means of the VA, and to get help filling out the paperwork free of charge from non-profit and government-affiliated teams known as veterans service organizations (VSOs), which are accredited by the federal government to assist them.
Instead, pissed off by cumbersome paperwork and VSOs that are usually too inundated with work for well timed help, many veterans as an alternative flip to non-public companies that cost a price.
Critics name these consultants “claims sharks” – for-profit consultancies that say they help veterans get increased compensation whereas additionally taking a minimize for themselves. These consultancies function with out accreditation from the VA, a course of that features taking assessments and passing a background test, which is supposed to make sure a stage of oversight into the method.
At the identical time, some for-profit consultancies have been accused of utilizing dishonest ways to acquire increased charges, whether or not by overcharging veterans straight, or misrepresenting their purchasers to the VA to get a much bigger minimize from increased compensations that are paid out.
The for-profit consultants contend they help veterans get extra advantages – which some veterans agree with – and that almost all veterans come to them as a result of they didn’t get the compensation they imagine they have been owed from the VA. These companies contend that they are not getting ready paperwork for veterans, however merely serving to them navigate a fancy system, and due to this fact are not in breach of federal necessities.
Bill Taylor, the co-founder of claims advisor Veterans Guardian, argues that companies like his needs to be allowed to function inside a authorized framework, which might additionally deliver extra regulation to the trade and minimize down on what he described as “predatory practices” from some “bad actors.”
“Not only do we want to protect a veteran’s right to choose, but we can do that while also providing protections,” Taylor mentioned.
Some states have sought to manage the trade. Last yr, Louisiana turned the primary state to cross a legislation to manage unaccredited claims consultants by capping their charges and requiring sure disclosures from them. The invoice was modeled after a model that stalled in Congress.
Some for revenue consultancies have welcomed these state legal guidelines, however VSOs haven’t.
But final week, a federal court docket struck down the Louisiana legislation as unconstitutional. John Wells, a lawyer and director of a veterans’ group that sued the state over the legislation, argued states shouldn’t be allowed to intrude within the regulation of federal advantages.
“If other states try to institute laws like this, we will take action,” Wells mentioned.
For its half, the “VA continues to examine this issue, and in the meantime, we are working to make it easier for Veterans to access the VA benefits and services they have earned,” spokesman Peter Kasperowicz advised NCS.
“When VA sees signs of fraud or suspicious behavior, it works with the appropriate law enforcement authorities to protect Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors,” he mentioned. “But we also want to make sure Veterans have choices, particularly if they aren’t happy with whatever options might be available to them for free.”
He added that the VA has put in efforts to make entry to claims simpler for veterans, together with by means of sooner, extra direct communications and faster methods to retrieve their medical data.
The variety of claims consultants has skyrocketed since 2006 when Congress eliminated legal penalties in opposition to these charging charges to help veterans with VA claims in an effort to get veterans help in navigating the sometimes-byzantine course of.
Two many years later, veterans and lawmakers alike are divided over whether or not these companies present a respectable service to fill an unmet want – or reap the benefits of weak veterans.
Billions of {dollars} are at stake, with some 6.7 million veterans receiving advantages from the VA within the 2024 fiscal yr.
Claiming veterans advantages by means of the federal government “can be a complicated process, depending on the type of claim you’re making,” in keeping with Michael Missal, who served as VA inspector basic from 2016 till January 2025.
While he doesn’t endorse the for-profit companies, “I was familiar with veterans getting frustrated with the complicated process at VA to get benefits,” he mentioned. “And what some unaccredited agents would do is say, ‘We can cut through the red tape. We can make this go quicker.’”
But the trade that has sprung up to do that is rife with issues, opponents say.
“When you have a business whose business model is predicated on a veteran getting a higher disability claim, that just leads to nefarious things,” mentioned Jeremy Villanueva of the veteran’s advocacy group Paralyzed Veterans of America when testifying at a congressional roundtable final month.
It’s arduous to even estimate what number of such companies at present function within the US, in keeping with Missal, due to their unregulated nature, however the largest ones function in a number of states, bringing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in claims.
In the previous, the VA has questioned the work of some non-public claims companies. Previous VA administrations have despatched cease-and-desist letters to some claims consultants, warning that they have been doubtless breaching federal legal guidelines for working with veterans to fill out claims kinds and charging them charges.
But these letters have been usually ineffective and never adopted up upon by the VA, limiting their impact, in keeping with Missal.
VSOs, which preserve their accreditations and relationships with the VA partly by exhibiting that they are offering these providers, object to the for-profit consultancy companies.
“We find it morally reprehensible that these companies are going around and taking money from veterans that they have no right to take money from,” mentioned Andrew Tangen, president of the VSO National Association of County Veterans Service Officers.
A pending whistleblower lawsuit has accused Veterans Guardian, one of many largest claims consultancies within the nation, of manipulating medical assessments, teaching veterans to current signs in particular methods, and steering candidates towards diagnoses that might yield increased advantages compensation – allegations Veterans Guardian has denied.
In a press release to NCS, Veterans Guardian mentioned the “complaint was filed by a former employee who was terminated for toxic behavior and has since been accused of harassment and cyberstalking other Veterans Guardian employees. We will continue to defend ourselves against these inaccurate claims.”
In December, a choose dominated {that a} separate lawsuit in opposition to the corporate introduced by veterans who mentioned they have been charged unlawful charges may transfer ahead after Veterans Guardian tried to have the case dismissed.
“We categorically deny the allegations and will vigorously defend our company against these meritless claims while continuing our important work for our veteran clients,” the corporate mentioned in a press release.
A veteran himself, Taylor mentioned his personal expertise with VSOs led him to ascertain his firm in 2017. When he was getting out of the navy, he had a tough time discovering somebody who may help him free of charge at Fort Bragg in North Carolina – one of many largest bases within the nation.
“There was only one VSO available,” Taylor mentioned. “Good luck getting an appointment.”
Taylor mentioned Veterans Guardian usually hires different veterans and navy spouses – individuals who can relate to different veterans. He mentioned that he makes use of “specialists at every step of the process,” together with those that can meet with veterans about PTSD or those that can advise about responding to correspondence from the VA. He mentioned the corporate has additionally developed an AI system to streamline some steps and get veterans sooner outcomes.
Taylor mentioned that the North Carolina-based Veterans Guardian helped 45,000 veterans final yr and claimed near a 90% “success rate” in getting veterans extra advantages. He added that greater than 70% of Veterans Guardian purchasers got here to the corporate after already making an attempt free options.
“So the question is, why are we doing so well?” Taylor mentioned. “Why are people referring folks to us? And why are so many veterans coming to us after having utilized one of the free services?”
For-profit consulting companies usually promote that they can get veterans the next “disability rating” – the VA’s score system on a scale of 0 to 100% based mostly on the mixed severity of the veteran’s accidents and sicknesses. The increased the score, the extra compensation.
Samuel Shade, a Navy veteran from Michigan, advised NCS he tried for years to improve his VA incapacity score and apply for higher advantages for his coronary heart issues. Shade mentioned he first tried to work with the VA on his personal, then solicited the help of an area VSO.
“They didn’t get anywhere,” Shade mentioned.
The VSO would take data from him and would test on his declare each 3-4 months, he mentioned. But then it could take the VA at the very least six months to reply.
“You couldn’t get the VA in Detroit to even answer” whenever you known as, Shade mentioned, including that it took a couple of yr for the VA to even acknowledge that he’d requested a rise in his advantages.
After eight years of making an attempt to make use of the VSO and VA, he lastly went to a non-public firm for help in 2023. “They tell you straight out, ‘If we don’t get anything, you’re not paying’, and they don’t over-charge either,” he mentioned, describing the consultancy as “a very good company to deal with.”
Through them, Shade was capable of enhance his advantages score, he mentioned.
Adam’s expertise turned out to be virtually fully reverse from Shade’s. After his poor expertise with the for-profit firm he had handled, Adam says, he went to an area VSO. With the VSO’s help, he says, he appropriately submitted his claims and acquired his advantages inside six months – all at no cost.
Louisiana and past
In addition to Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee and South Dakota have handed laws to manage these companies, whereas different states, reminiscent of Maine, New Jersey and New York, have handed legal guidelines banning unaccredited companies.
Last week, Louisiana’s legislation was struck down after a district court docket choose discovered that it interfered with the purview of the federal legislation – a choice applauded by the VFW, however which the Louisiana lawyer basic intends to attraction.
And this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into legislation a measure that might empower the state lawyer basic to prosecute unaccredited consultants who cost veterans extreme charges for claims help.
Taylor, the co-founder of Veterans Guardian, mentioned regulation may handle the principle criticisms the VSOs have had about consulting companies.
“There were complaints that veterans don’t know their options, so require us to notify the veteran in writing,” Taylor mentioned. “I mean, shoot, some of the bills even dictate it has to be done in a certain type of font.”
In 2025, Veterans Guardian spent greater than $2.6 million on lobbying, together with for state laws to permit the trade to function, according to information compiled by the nonprofit OpenSecrets. Taylor mentioned he expects as much as 20 extra states to finally enact laws his group has lobbied in help of.
Taylor mentioned that each veteran who contacts Veterans Guardian is advised that there are free providers obtainable to them by means of the VA and VSOs, and lots of go that route first.
“And we wish them well, and we hope we never see them again,” he continued. “Because frankly, we’re barely scratching the surface of the demand for assistance out there.”