VFW Urges Passage of Pappas’s GUARD VA Benefits Act in the 118th Congress

On March 8, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Ranking Member of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs (HVAC), joined a joint hearing held by the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs to hear from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and additional Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) about their priorities for the 118th Congress. During the hearing, VFW applauded Pappas’s GUARD VA Benefits Act, noting it as one of their top priorities, and urged Congress to pass the legislation.

A full recording of the hearing can be found here.

During opening statements, Timothy Bordland, Commander-in-Chief, Veterans of Foreign Wars said, “with this passage of the PACT Act, the VFW has seen an increase in online ads from predatory claim consultants that we call claim sharks… This is why we strongly urge the passage of the GUARD VA Benefits Act. If VA representatives charged for claims help, they would lose their accreditation and be subject to both fines and jail time. Claim sharks should be treated the same way.”

During the hearing, Congressman Pappas asked VFW what more VA can do to raise awareness of claim sharks among veterans saying, “... it was from conversations with veterans in New Hampshire and with VFW that I heard about this issue of claim sharks. And I think you appropriately talked about what these people do taking advantage of veterans, these unaccredited actors, it's probably a too polite way to refer to what these folks do out there. But we're going to hold them accountable and pass some legislation on it… And we look forward to working with you to pass this legislation… Do you think there are other things that VA could be doing to raise awareness and education around the problem of unaccredited representatives who are charging fees for our veterans?”

Timothy Bordland, Commander-in-Chief, Veterans of Foreign Wars, responded, “first of all, sir, I want to thank you for sponsoring that bill. It's a critical bill for our veterans. We need to let our veterans know that our service officers are out there to do it for free. We need to also hold these claims sharks accountable for what they're doing. They need to be VA accredited… The veteran serves our country we stand for the country, we stand for the country, we stand and fight for the country. We give the ultimate sacrifice. The veteran should be taken care of by properly trained, accredited service officers.”

Unaccredited claims representatives, or claim sharks, are not subject to VA standards. They strategically advertise their services to avoid regulatory oversight and as a result, may engage in predatory and unethical practices that target veterans and rob them of their VA benefits. Federal laws and regulations prohibit anyone from assisting a veteran in the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a VA benefit claim, or charging a fee for this assistance, without accreditation from VA's Office of General Counsel. However, VA and other federal agencies are limited in their ability to enforce existing law because explicit criminal penalties were stripped from statute nearly two decades ago. This has contributed to the proliferation of unaccredited claims representatives in recent years. This legislation will discourage for-profit companies from operating outside the bounds of federal law and will give VA and other agencies an additional tool to protect veteran claimants from predatory practices.

Background:

In February 2022, Pappas called for and received a briefing from VA on its strategy to raise awareness of and better protect veterans from these predatory practices. 

In April 2022, Pappas chaired a joint Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Accreditation Program for individuals who assist veterans with VA disability claims. Testimony given at the hearing highlighted the rise of unaccredited disability claims consultants who target veterans for financial exploitation and the importance of reinstating criminal penalties to deter bad actors.

In August 2022, Pappas introduced the bipartisan Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act alongside Congressman Jake Ellzey (TX-06) to reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited claim representatives who charge unauthorized fees while assisting veterans with filing a claim for VA disability compensation benefits.

In February 2023, Pappas reintroduced his bipartisan Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding (GUARD) VA Benefits Act alongside Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (AS), Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), and Congressman Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02).