Congress calls for a crackdown on companies charging disabled vets [View all]

Source: NPR

December 10, 2025 5:30 PM ET


A group of 43 members of Congress is calling for action against unaccredited companies that charge veterans for help filing for disability benefits with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This comes in response to reporting last week from NPR that showed the claims consulting industry is using aggressive tactics to make millions off of veterans, despite warnings from the VA's lawyers that doing so may be in violation of federal law.

"For years, we have warned that unaccredited representatives — commonly known as claim sharks — charge illegal fees, misrepresent their services, and exploit a loophole in federal law to escape accountability," the group wrote in a letter Wednesday to VA, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "These practices represent a deeply disturbing escalation in claim shark industry tactics." The letter was signed by 42 Democrats and one Republican.

Federal law states that anyone helping veterans prepare initial claims for disability benefits must be accredited by the VA and that the service must be free. Nonprofit veterans service organizations such as The American Legion and VFW have long helped vets with such claims.

But in an effort to reduce barriers for vets, Congress removed criminal penalties from the law in 2006. Entrepreneurs leapt into that legal gray area, realizing they could help vets and make money. The number of these claims consulting outfits has exploded over the last 10 years.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/12/10/nx-s1-5639990/congress-crackdown-veterans-companies-disabled