Guides / Start a claims agent practice

How to Start a VA Claims Agent Practice: Accreditation, Fees, and Startup Costs

Passing the OGC exam feels like the finish line. It is actually the starting line. Before your first client signs a fee agreement, you need a business structure, insurance, a fee model that fits the 20 percent cap, compliant marketing, and a remote setup that lets you serve veterans in any state. This guide walks through each piece in the order that matters.

Step zero: accreditation before everything

You cannot take clients, advertise as an accredited agent, or charge fees until VA's Office of General Counsel actually grants your accreditation. The application on VA Form 21a, the character and fitness review, and the written exam with its 75 percent passing score all come before day one of the business. The accreditation rules live in 38 CFR 14.629, and the current program details are on the VA OGC accreditation page.

One exception trips people up. Under 38 CFR 14.630, a non-accredited person may help a claimant on one claim, without charge. That is a neighborly favor written into the regulation, not a way to launch a practice. Do not build revenue plans on it, and do not solicit clients while your application is pending.

Practically, the accreditation wait (often many months) is free setup time. Use it to form your entity, buy insurance, build your fee agreement, and set up your website. The agents who launch fastest are the ones who treated the waiting period as a build period.

Pick a business structure

VA does not care what entity you use. It cares that you are accredited, competent, and compliant. Your entity choice is about taxes, liability, and professionalism:

Whatever you choose, keep a separate business bank account, track every expense from day one, and check your city and county for a local business license. This is general information, not legal or tax advice: a one-hour consult with a small-business accountant pays for itself many times over.

Learn the fee rules, because they are your business model

Your revenue model is not whatever you wish. It is whatever 38 U.S.C. 5904 and 38 CFR 14.636 allow:

• Timing. You may charge only for services connected with a proceeding after VA issues notice of the initial decision on the claim. Preparing the original claim is free work, by statute. Your payable work begins at the appeal or supplemental claim stage.
• Written agreement. Every fee needs a written fee agreement signed by the claimant (or their guardian). It must spell out the fee basis, and you should keep copies for years.
• The 20 percent direct-pay cap. When VA withholds past-due benefits and pays you directly out of them, the fee cannot exceed 20 percent of those past-due benefits. This is the number every agent plans around, and our 20 percent fee rule guide walks through the math.
• Reasonableness, always. Even within the cap, every fee must be reasonable under the factors in 38 CFR 14.636(e): time and labor, novelty and difficulty, results obtained, and customary fees for similar work, among others. OGC can review and reduce fees, so document your hours.

Price your services with the cap in mind. A practice built on 20 percent of past-due benefits needs volume, high-value cases, or both. Many agents pair contingency appeal work with flat-fee services that do not depend on a benefit award, such as claim-file reviews, staying inside the timing rule.

Get insured before you advise anyone

No VA regulation requires claims agents to carry errors and omissions insurance. Get it anyway. You are advising veterans about benefits worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, and a single allegation of bad advice can end a solo practice even if it is unfounded. A professional liability (E and O) policy for a solo professional typically runs a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars a year.

Pair it with general liability coverage if you see clients in person or maintain an office, and consider cyber liability once you store client records digitally, which you will. Check whether any state or local rules where you operate add requirements, but the VA side of the ledger has no insurance mandate.

Market like your accreditation depends on it, because it does

The standards of conduct in 38 CFR 14.632 govern how you present yourself. Advertising must be truthful and not misleading. That means:

• No claiming VA endorsement, affiliation, or special access. You are accredited, not employed, by VA.
• No guaranteed outcomes, promised ratings, or "we win or you pay nothing" gimmicks that mislead.
• Identify yourself as the accredited agent behind the practice, and keep copies of every ad, post, and mailer.

In-person solicitation of claimants is restricted, so build your funnel the modern way: search content, social proof, and educational marketing. Our marketing rules guide goes deeper, and the site search is your friend. Also remember that VA can suspend or cancel accreditation for misconduct, so treat every public statement as if OGC will read it.

Practice remotely, in any state

Here is the structural advantage of this profession: VA accreditation is federal. An accredited claims agent can represent claimants in any state without a state license or bar admission. Most successful solo agents are fully remote, working by phone, video, secure email, and VA's online systems. Our remote practice guide covers the setup.

Practically, that means a laptop, a good headset, a quiet room, reliable internet, and a secure way to receive documents. You may still need to register your LLC or file local business taxes where you live, but your authority to practice before VA travels with you. Many agents deliberately live somewhere cheap and serve clients nationwide, which is a real edge over location-bound professions.

Stay compliant after launch

Launching is not a one-time event. Accredited agents must complete continuing legal education (3 hours in the first 12 months, 3 more by the end of year three, then every two years), file annual certifications that they remain in good standing, and follow the standards of conduct for as long as they practice. Full details are in our maintaining accreditation guide, grounded in 38 CFR 14.629. Miss the CLE cycle or the annual certification and you can lose the accreditation your whole business rests on.

Sources

• VA OGC: Accreditation, Discipline, and Fees Program, the official accreditation overview.
• 38 CFR 14.629, requirements for accreditation: the application, character and fitness review, 75 percent exam score, and CLE cycle. Full text: eCFR 14.629.
• 38 CFR 14.636, payment of fees: fee agreements, the reasonableness factors, and direct pay mechanics. Full text: eCFR 14.636.
• 38 CFR 14.632, standards of conduct: truthful advertising and professional conduct rules. Full text: eCFR 14.632.
• 38 U.S.C. 5904: the fee statute, including the timing rule and the 20 percent direct-pay cap.

This page is for general information only, not legal, tax, or business advice. Business structure, insurance, and tax decisions depend on your state and situation, so consult licensed professionals before acting.