Wow, great article with good info about the types of representatives that are available. Those fees of thousands of dollars are bullshit, and that company needs to, at the very least, get hit with a massive fine since criminal penalties were removed back in 2006. There’s an organization near me that spoke at an event, and they charge like $40 for access to their claims advice. I really need to look at the accredited assistance, I’ve been dragging my feet on my own claim.
Although Peckey did get a monthly disability check of around $1,500, he felt he was charged for information he could have found on the internet.
He was and it is. The va website itself is a wealth of information on what the process is and how to work through it. /r/veterans is still a great source of specific information despite the recent troubles.
Last October, the Federal Trade Commission reminded veterans that they don’t need to pay for help getting benefits. The alert also warned of scammers who emphasize their military service to “gain your trust so you won’t stop and ask questions about their pitches.”
And it turns out, if you dont want to learn about the va process, you can still get shit done by asking one of the organizations who have been helping vets for nearly a hundred years to walk you through the process.
I’m less than impressed that this is happening, but also not surprised. The company is another one preying on veterans inability to speak out for themselves and taking advantage of their willful and/or regular ignorance. The support for veterans is there, but a company that charges huge amounts of money to tell you how to lie to the va so you can ‘get your percent raised’ is exactly the sort of thing that a disgruntled veteran who tried nothing and is all out of ideas would pursue.
The va isnt there to keep you from your benefits. It’s there because companies, and veterans like this keep trying to lie and game the system so they can get what the want rather than what they deserve. It’s also got it’s own problems, but lying to get what you want isnt the way this should be handled.
