VA claims agent exam glossary: 50 terms in plain English

Sources checked October 4, 2026. Independent guide, not affiliated with VA. Not legal advice.

Fifty terms the exam expects you to know cold, from accreditation to 38 CFR 4.7. Each definition is one to three sentences in plain English, followed by the controlling statute or regulation so you can read the rule yourself.

Accreditation and representation

Accreditation

VA's formal recognition of a claims agent, attorney, or service organization representative as authorized to represent claimants before VA. Accreditation is granted by VA's Office of General Counsel after the applicant meets the requirements in 38 CFR 14.629.

Claims agent

A person other than an attorney who is accredited by VA to represent claimants in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of benefit claims. Claims agent applicants must pass a written exam with a score of 75 percent or more. See 38 CFR 14.627 and 38 CFR 14.629.

Attorney

A member in good standing of a state bar who is accredited by VA to represent claimants. Attorneys are exempt from the written exam that claims agent applicants must take. See 38 CFR 14.629.

VSO representative

A person accredited through a VA-recognized veterans service organization (such as the DAV or American Legion) to represent claimants. VSO representatives are accredited on their organization's recommendation and generally may not charge fees. See 38 CFR 14.627 and 38 CFR 14.629.

Office of General Counsel (OGC)

The VA office that accredits claims agents, attorneys, and VSO representatives, administers the accreditation exam, and handles discipline and fee disputes. OGC's accreditation program page is the primary public source for exam and application information. See VA OGC accreditation page.

VA Form 21a

The application form a person files with OGC to seek accreditation as a claims agent or attorney. It covers qualifications, employment history, and character and fitness. See 38 CFR 14.629(a).

Power of attorney (VA Form 21-22a)

The form a claimant signs to appoint an accredited claims agent or attorney as their representative before VA. A copy must be filed with the agency of original jurisdiction. See 38 CFR 14.631.

VA Form 21-22

The form a claimant signs to appoint a recognized veterans service organization, and its accredited representatives, to act as representative before VA. See 38 CFR 14.631.

Character and fitness

OGC's review of an accreditation applicant's background, including criminal history, to decide whether the applicant is fit to represent claimants. OGC must make an affirmative character-and-fitness determination before a claims agent applicant may sit for the exam. See 38 CFR 14.629.

Standards of conduct

The rules in 38 CFR 14.632 governing how accredited representatives must behave, covering competence, diligence, honesty, conflicts of interest, and fee practices. Violations can lead to suspension or cancellation of accreditation.

Suspension and cancellation

Suspension is the temporary withholding of an accredited representative's authority to represent claimants; cancellation is the termination of that authority. OGC may impose either, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, for misconduct or standards-of-conduct violations. See 38 CFR 14.627 and 38 CFR 14.633.

Continuing legal education (CLE)

Accredited agents and attorneys must complete 3 hours of qualifying continuing legal education within the first 12 months after accreditation, 3 more hours by the end of year 3, and 3 hours every 2 years after that. See 38 CFR 14.629(b)(1).

Fees

38 CFR 14.636 (fee rules)

The regulation setting when accredited agents and attorneys may charge fees, what makes a fee reasonable, and how VA pays fees. Key points: no fee for work before notice of the initial agency decision, fees must be reasonable, and fees of 20 percent or less of past-due benefits are presumed reasonable. See 38 CFR 14.636 and 38 U.S.C. 5904.

38 CFR 14.637 (fee agreements)

The regulation requiring fee agreements to be in writing, signed by the claimant and the representative, and filed with the agency of original jurisdiction within 30 days of execution. The agreement must state how the fee is calculated and whether VA will pay the representative directly from past-due benefits. See 38 CFR 14.637.

Direct pay

VA's payment of an accredited agent's or attorney's fee directly from the claimant's past-due benefits, when the fee agreement provides for it. Direct pay is limited to 20 percent of past-due benefits. See 38 CFR 14.636(h).

Fee petition

A request an accredited agent or attorney files with VA asking VA to set a reasonable fee when there is no direct-pay fee agreement. VA decides the amount using the factors in 38 CFR 14.636(e). See 38 CFR 14.636(i).

Twenty percent presumption

The rule that a fee totaling no more than 20 percent of past-due benefits is presumed reasonable. VA may still review it, and a fee above 20 percent is not automatically unreasonable. See 38 CFR 14.636(f).

Claims process

Claimant

Any individual applying for, or submitting a claim for, any benefit under the laws administered by VA. The definition is deliberately broad and is not limited to veterans. See 38 U.S.C. 5100.

Intent to file

A claimant's written notice to VA of intent to file a claim, submitted on the prescribed form. It preserves the effective date for up to one year while the claimant gathers evidence and files the complete claim. See 38 CFR 3.155(b).

Complete claim

A claim filed on the application form prescribed by VA that identifies the benefit sought and is signed. Only a complete claim can produce a decision and an effective date. See 38 CFR 3.155(d).

Fully developed claim (FDC)

A claim in which the claimant submits all relevant evidence in their possession and certifies that VA has no further duty to develop evidence, in exchange for faster processing. See 38 CFR 3.161.

Standard claim

Any claim for VA benefits that is not filed as a fully developed claim. VA retains its full duty to assist in developing the evidence. See 38 CFR 3.161.

Effective date

The date from which VA starts paying a benefit once it is granted. For most compensation claims it is the later of the date VA received the claim or the date entitlement arose. See 38 CFR 3.400.

Rating decision

The agency of original jurisdiction's written decision on a claim, assigning or denying disability ratings and setting effective dates. It is the decision a claimant challenges through the AMA review options. See 38 CFR 3.103 and 38 CFR 3.400.

Agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ)

The VA office, usually a regional office, that decides a claim in the first instance and issues the rating decision. Appeals move from the AOJ to higher-level review, the supplemental claim lane, or the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Service connection

Direct service connection

Service connection granted on evidence that a current disability was incurred in or aggravated by military service, typically shown through service treatment records, a current diagnosis, and a nexus opinion. See 38 CFR 3.303 and 38 CFR 3.304.

Presumptive service connection

Service connection granted by law without proof of a direct link, when a veteran has a qualifying chronic, tropical, or other listed disease that manifests within a set time after service, or had qualifying herbicide, radiation, or Gulf War service. See 38 CFR 3.307 and 38 CFR 3.309.

Secondary service connection

Service connection for a disability that is proximately caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability, rather than by service itself. It requires medical evidence linking the two conditions. See 38 CFR 3.310.

Nexus

The medical link between a current disability and an in-service event, injury, or service-connected condition. A nexus opinion from a qualified medical professional is usually needed to establish direct or secondary service connection.

C and P examination

A compensation and pension examination VA orders to develop medical evidence for a claim, such as a diagnosis, a nexus opinion, or the severity of a disability. Providing an exam when warranted is part of VA's duty to assist. See 38 CFR 3.159.

Lay evidence

Statements from the veteran or others describing what they personally observed, such as symptoms in service. Lay evidence is competent when it describes matters within the person's own knowledge and can support a claim without medical expertise. See 38 CFR 3.159(a)(2).

Competent evidence

Evidence provided by a person qualified through knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to offer it. Medical questions generally require competent medical evidence, while observable symptoms can be shown through competent lay evidence. See 38 CFR 3.159(a).

Buddy statement

A written lay statement from a fellow service member, friend, or family member describing what they observed about the veteran's injury, symptoms, or events in service. It is a common and often powerful form of lay evidence. See 38 CFR 3.159(a)(2).

Duty to assist

Duty to assist

VA's legal obligation to help claimants develop the evidence needed to support their claims, including obtaining relevant records and providing medical examinations when warranted. See 38 U.S.C. 5103A and 38 CFR 3.159.

VCAA

The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, the law that created VA's modern duty to notify claimants and duty to assist them in developing claims. See Public Law 106-475, 38 U.S.C. 5103, and 38 U.S.C. 5103A.

Duty to notify

VA's obligation to tell claimants what evidence is needed to support a claim, what evidence VA will try to obtain, and what evidence the claimant should provide. See 38 U.S.C. 5103 and 38 CFR 3.159(b).

Appeals

AMA

The Appeals Modernization Act, the law that replaced the legacy appeals system for decisions issued on or after February 19, 2019. It created three review options: supplemental claim, higher-level review, and Board appeal. See Public Law 115-55 and 38 CFR 3.2500.

Supplemental claim

An AMA review option in which the claimant asks the AOJ to readjudicate a decision by submitting new and relevant evidence. It is the only AMA lane that allows new evidence at the AOJ level. See 38 CFR 3.2501.

Higher-level review

An AMA review option in which a senior VA reviewer gives the decision a fresh, de novo look based only on the evidence already in the record. No new evidence may be submitted, and the reviewer must not have participated in the earlier decision. See 38 CFR 3.2601.

Board appeal and dockets

An appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, filed under one of three dockets: direct review (no new evidence, no hearing), evidence submission (new evidence within 90 days, no hearing), or hearing (a Board hearing with later evidence submission). See 38 CFR 20.202 and 38 U.S.C. 7113.

Remand

When the Board sends a case back to the AOJ for further development or readjudication instead of deciding it. A remand is not a final decision, and the AOJ must complete the development the Board ordered. See 38 CFR 20.802.

Legacy appeals (NOD and SOC)

The pre-AMA appeals system, still used for decisions issued before February 19, 2019. The claimant filed a notice of disagreement (NOD), and the AOJ responded with a statement of the case (SOC) explaining the decision and the laws applied. See 38 CFR part 19.

Clear and unmistakable error (CUE)

A very specific and undebatable error in a final VA decision, such as applying the wrong law to the facts as they were known at the time. A successful CUE claim can revise a final decision with an earlier effective date. See 38 CFR 3.105.

Ratings

Combined ratings table

The table in 38 CFR 4.25 used to combine multiple disability ratings. Ratings are not added directly: each additional rating applies to the remaining efficiency, so two 50 percent ratings combine to 75 percent, not 100 percent.

Bilateral factor

An extra increase added when a veteran has service-connected disabilities affecting both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles. The combined rating for the paired disabilities is raised under the formula in 38 CFR 4.26 before combining with other ratings.

Pyramiding

The prohibited practice of rating the same disability, or the same manifestation of a disability, under multiple diagnostic codes. Each distinct disability gets one rating for its distinct symptoms. See 38 CFR 4.14.

TDIU

Total disability based on individual unemployability: a 100 percent compensation rate for a veteran who cannot maintain substantially gainful employment because of service-connected disabilities, even though the combined schedular rating is below 100 percent. See 38 CFR 4.16.

Special monthly compensation (SMC)

Additional monthly compensation above the schedular rates for severe disabilities, such as loss of use of a hand or foot, housebound status, or need for aid and attendance. Paid at levels designated by letter, from L through R and beyond. See 38 CFR 3.350 and 38 U.S.C. 1114.

Aid and attendance and housebound

Aid and attendance is an SMC benefit for veterans who need another person's regular help with daily activities; housebound is an SMC benefit for veterans substantially confined to the home because of disability. See 38 CFR 3.351 and 38 CFR 3.352.

38 CFR 4.7 (higher of two evaluations)

The rule that when a disability picture more nearly approximates one of two ratings, VA must assign the higher rating. It implements the benefit-of-the-doubt principle in rating decisions. See 38 CFR 4.7.