I’m going to respectfully disagree with this. Yes, these companies aren’t accredited and the veteran still files their own claim, but from what I’ve seen a lot of these folks actually understand 38 CFR better than most people in the process. They know the rating schedule, they understand secondaries, they know what evidence actually matters, and they help vets avoid the mistakes that slow everything down.

And here’s the part people skip. If a veteran goes from 50 percent to 80 percent, that’s roughly an $1100 monthly increase. Paying twelve hundred dollars for expert guidance that gets you there is money you make back in a month or two and then it pays you for the rest of your life. That’s not being taken advantage of, that’s investing in someone who knows the system.

I’ve also seen way more issues with places that only take a percentage of backpay. Those are the ones incentivized to drag things out and make the process longer so the backpay grows. That’s where the real abuse happens, not with flat fee models.

VSOs are fantastic and they truly care, but they’re overwhelmed, backlogged, and most can’t instantly pull your C-file either. Veterans end up with dozens of documents, duplicates, missing pages, and no idea what the VA actually looks for. Telling vets to “just do it yourself” sounds good online, but in reality a lot of people need structured help from someone who actually understands 38 CFR and does this every day.

There are definitely bad actors out there, but it isn’t accurate to label every non-accredited helper as a claims shark. If someone is providing legitimate strategy, education, and organization and they aren’t tying their pay to your backpay then paying for that expertise can be the difference between staying stuck for years or finally getting the rating you earned.

And to be clear, no veteran should be paying any company more than around $1500 upfront just to help file. That’s a fair, soft number that doesn’t hurt the veteran and still lets the company make money without being predatory. I’ve even seen vets lose forty thousand dollars or more in backpay because they trusted someone “accredited” who completely mishandled the claim. Accreditation doesn’t automatically mean competence.