The VA doesn’t make it easy. We make it winnable.
Denied, lowballed, or stuck? You do not need more generic advice. You need a VA-accredited claims agent who reads your file the way the VA does and builds the case they cannot ignore. That is exactly what we do.
Is it time to bring in a claims agent?
Here is my honest advice: you do not need a lawyer and you do not have to figure this out alone. If even one of these sounds familiar, a short conversation with me, Albert Thombs, VA Accredited Claims Agent #45147, costs you nothing and could be the difference between another denial and the rating you actually earned.
- Your claim was denied and the reason does not add up.
- You got a rating, but the percentage is too low for how the condition affects your daily life.
- A C&P exam felt rushed, or the examiner barely looked at your records.
- You have burn-pit, Agent Orange, or contaminated-water exposure you have not fully claimed.
- You have been fighting the same claim for months or years with no real movement.
- The forms, deadlines, and appeal lanes have you stuck or overwhelmed.
The claims system is adversarial
Let me tell you what I have learned in this work: most veterans walk in assuming the VA is on their side and the truth will speak for itself. It does not work that way. Your claim is decided by overworked raters and time-limited C&P examinersworking from a rulebook thousands of pages long. When something is unclear, the tie rarely goes to you, no matter what the regulation says.
The result: solid claims get denied, real disabilities get rated too low, and effective dates worth thousands in back pay quietly slip by. Not because you did not earn it, but because nobody framed the evidence the way the system requires.
Denial is the default
Raters work 10 to 15 claims a day, 12 to 15 minutes each. When evidence is thin or a nexus is not spelled out, the safe answer is no. Silence in your file is never scored in your favor.
Inadequate C&P exams
A rushed or unqualified exam opinion can sink an otherwise winnable claim. Many exams last minutes, are done by contractors outside their specialty, and quietly become the one piece of evidence the VA leans on to deny you.
The effective-date game
Miss the right filing date or intent-to-file window and you lose months, sometimes years, of back pay you were legally owed. The VA will pay from the later date and never mention the earlier one.
Generic advice is not a strategy
Checklists and forums cannot read your file. Winning turns on the specific evidence, regulations, and exam details in your case. Well-meaning advice from another veteran fits their claim, not yours.
Why “accredited” is the word that matters
The internet is full of “claim sharks” and coaches who charge upfront, make big promises, and answer to no one. Accreditation is not a badge you buy or a certificate you print — it is formal recognition granted by the VA’s Office of General Counsel to a small, vetted group of people the government has authorized to represent veterans on their claims. To earn it you have to pass a background check and a written examination, agree in writing to the VA’s federal standards of conduct, and stay personally accountable to the VA for every case you touch.
And it is not a one-time hurdle. Every single year I am required to complete continuing legal education and re-prove to the VA that I still know this law cold. The rules change constantly — the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) rewrote toxic-exposure claims in 2022 alone — and my accreditation depends on staying current with every one of those changes. When I tell you what your claim is worth, it is coming from someone the federal government re-tests annually.
A VA-accredited claims agent does one thing and does it all day: VA disability claims and appeals. We live inside 38 CFR and the rating schedule. Many attorneys are generalists who take VA cases on the side, often charge higher contingency rates, and may hand your file to a paralegal. As an agent I am held to the exact same federal fee limits and the same standards of conduct as an accredited attorney — but this is the only work I do, and your case is handled by me and my team, not passed down a chain.
This is how you know I’m legit. My name is Albert Thombs and my VA accreditation number is #45147. You can look it up yourself, right now, on the VA’s official Office of General Counsel accreditation search — no login, no cost. If someone can’t be found on that list, they are not accredited. Period.
See my VA accreditation record (#45147)- Recognized and regulated by the VA (accreditation #45147)
- Re-tested every year through required continuing education
- Held to the same federal standards of conduct as an accredited attorney
- Personally accountable to the VA for every case — never a faceless firm
- 20+ years and a team of 10 advocates behind your claim
- Your file, your decisions — always
The rules change every year — staying current is the job
This official U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs explainer breaks down the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) — a single law that rewrote toxic-exposure claims overnight. Keeping up with changes like this, and re-proving it to the VA every year, is exactly what accreditation demands. It is the difference between a guess and an agent who reads the current rulebook the way the VA does.
Ways forward — start wherever you are
My advice: most veterans start with the free tools and reach out when they want a human in their corner. There is no wrong place to begin, and there is never a charge to talk to me first.
Free education & tools
Always freeCalculators and benefit guides that show you your rating, your back pay, and what you qualify for in real dollars. No account, no email wall, no catch.
- Combined rating, TDIU, back-pay & toxic-exposure calculators
- Plain-English guides for every major benefit
- Ask Albert a question any time, 24/7
Accredited representation
No fees unless you winWhen you want an experienced hand on a claim or appeal, a VA-accredited agent represents you directly. Fees on past-due benefits are contingent and governed by federal law. Nothing out of pocket to get started.
- VA-accredited claims agent (#45147)
- Nothing up front, fees come only from back pay we win
- We handle the evidence, deadlines & paperwork
Mission 5 Intelligence Brief
$750 flatA forensic, top-to-bottom review of your file that tells you exactly where your claim stands and what to do next. Written report in 7 days plus a 45-minute strategy call.
- Independent review of your entire claim history
- Written 7-section report in 7 days
- 45-minute one-on-one strategy call
Meet the team first
No pressureWant to know who would handle your claim before you commit? Real people, real credentials, no call center. See the accredited agent and the advocates who would stand behind your file.
- A VA-accredited agent, not a middleman
- A named team you can actually reach
- See our credentials before you decide
What an accredited agent actually does
Representation is not hand-holding. It is forensic case-building. We take your file apart, find what is missing or being used against you, and put it back together the way the VA is required to grant.
You stay in control of every decision. We do the heavy lifting the system was never designed to make simple.
Build the medical evidence
We pinpoint the records, DBQs, and nexus letters your claim needs. No evidence means no successful claim, and the equation is that simple.
Challenge inadequate exams
When a C&P opinion is wrong, unqualified, or applies the wrong standard, we confront it with the evidence to override it. The exam is theater until it is on paper.
Apply the right law
PACT Act presumptions, TERA exposure pathways, TDIU, Special Monthly Compensation. We claim every regulation that fits your case and cite it the way the rater needs to see it.
Win the earliest effective date
Every day you wait is back pay you lose. We fight for the correct entitlement date so you are paid from when you were actually entitled, not just when the VA got around to it.
Manage every deadline and form
Filing windows, evidence submissions, and appeal clocks are handled for you. A missed date never costs you the claim when we are on it.
Carry it through appeals
Supplemental Claims, Higher-Level Reviews, and Board appeals. If the first decision is wrong, we do not stop there. Escalation is structured, not reckless.
These are the cases we see most often. If your situation is not listed, ask anyway. Chances are we have handled it before.
PTSD, MST & mental health
Service-connection and rating increases for trauma-related conditions rated under 38 CFR §4.130 (PTSD is DC 9411). We build the stressor evidence, nexus opinions, and occupational-impact proof the VA needs to grant the correct percentage — not the lowball 30% that gets handed out by default.
Gulf War & respiratory illness
Undiagnosed illness and chronic multi-symptom conditions from Southwest Asia service are presumptive under 38 CFR §3.317. The PACT Act (Public Law 117-168) added asthma, rhinitis, sinusitis, and many cancers as burn-pit presumptives — we make sure yours is claimed correctly.
Toxic exposure, TERA & PACT
Burn pits, airborne hazards, and other in-service exposures filed under the PACT Act (Public Law 117-168, 2022) and a Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA) determination. We connect your exposure history to the presumptive and direct pathways so the claim is decided on the right law.
Agent Orange claims
Herbicide-exposure presumptive claims under 38 CFR §3.309(e) for Vietnam (1962–1975), the Korea DMZ, Thailand, and Blue Water Navy service. We document the qualifying service and tie each diagnosis to the presumptive list so the VA cannot sidestep the connection.
Camp Lejeune claims
Contaminated-water illnesses for anyone stationed there 1953–1987, filed for VA disability and the separate Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 pathway. We handle both tracks so you pursue every dollar you are owed, not just one.
Denied & lowball decisions
Supplemental Claims and Higher-Level Reviews under the Appeals Modernization Act (2019) to overturn a wrong or too-low rating. You generally have one year from the decision to protect your effective date — we pick the right lane and file it before that clock runs out.
Board of Veterans' Appeals
When the Regional Office keeps getting it wrong, we take your fight to a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans' Appeals. You start that appeal with a Notice of Disagreement on VA Form 10182 within one year of the decision, and you choose your lane — direct review on the existing record, a submit-more-evidence docket, or a hearing where the judge hears from you directly. The Board is where a fresh set of eyes, bound by the law and not by the examiner who shorted you, can finally read the file the way it should have been read the first time. It takes patience, but I keep the record open and the effective date protected the whole way through.
TDIU / unemployability
Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate under 38 CFR §4.16 even without a 100% schedular rating, when service-connected conditions keep you from steady work. We prove the work-history and medical link the VA looks for before it will grant it.
Vietnam & Blue Water Navy
If you served in-country in Vietnam or offshore in the Blue Water Navy, herbicide exposure is presumptive under 38 CFR §3.309(e), and the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 finally restored that presumption for ships operating within 12 nautical miles of the coast. That means you do not have to prove you touched Agent Orange — you prove the qualifying service, and we tie your diagnosis to the presumptive list so the VA cannot pretend the connection is not there. I have watched too many blue-water sailors get turned away for years on a technicality that Congress has since fixed, and I make sure your claim is filed on the law as it stands today.
Back pay & effective dates
Recovering the retroactive money you were owed from the correct entitlement date under 38 CFR §3.400 — often anchored to an earlier intent-to-file the VA ignored. A single corrected effective date can be worth months or years of back pay.
Secondary service connection
Conditions caused or aggravated by an already service-connected disability are compensable under 38 CFR §3.310 — think depression from chronic pain, or sleep apnea secondary to PTSD. We supply the medical nexus that turns one rating into a higher combined rating.
Special Monthly Compensation
Higher SMC rates under 38 U.S.C. §1114 for loss of use, aid and attendance, housebound status, and the most severe service-connected conditions. These payments sit on top of your regular compensation and are routinely missed — we make sure they are claimed.
We do not take every case — and we will tell you straight
We focus on veterans the VA has already denied or under-rated. We do not take brand-new initial claims, and we do not take every case. We review your situation first and tell you honestly whether we can help, before anyone signs anything.
We can usually help if…
- You have been denied or low-balled by the VA. We handle appeals and rating fights, not first-time claims.
- You served honorably.
- You are not currently under contract with another VSO, attorney, or agent. If you are, we can only step in once that relationship has formally ended.
VA Form 21-22a. Moving forward requires signing VA Form 21-22a. It appoints us as your accredited representative and gives us access to your VA file. Nothing happens on your claim without it.
VA Form 21-22a is the power of attorney that lets us represent you. Nothing moves until it is signed — and signing it costs you nothing.
“No fees unless you win” — and why it’s true
“No win, no fee” is not a marketing line here — it is federal law. An accredited claims agent is forbidden from charging you a dime up front, and cannot legally take a fee for filing a first-time claim at all. On the denials and under-ratings we do take on, we are only ever paid a percentage of the past-due back pay we actually win for you — and even that amount is capped by regulation and reviewed by the VA before a single dollar changes hands. If we do not recover money for you, you owe us nothing. The financial risk sits with us, not with you. Here is exactly how it works, in plain English, before you ever pick up the phone.
1Asking costs you nothing
A review of your situation is always free, no obligation. By federal rule we cannot charge for a first-time claim. We focus on denials and under-ratings, so there is no cost to find out whether we can help.
2Fees are capped by law
Our fee is 20% of the past-due benefits we recover, the maximum the VA authorizes under 38 CFR §14.636. The VA reviews the fee before it is paid. Not a marketing promise, federal law.
3Recovery only, never hourly
That 20% comes solely out of the back pay the VA awards you. No award means no fee. The financial risk sits with us, not you.
4The VA approves the fee first
Nothing is charged on trust. The VA itself reviews and approves the fee before a single dollar changes hands. An independent check, on top of the legal cap, that sits between you and any bill.
One honest exception: the Mission 5 Intelligence Brief is a separate, optional flat-fee file review — not a representation fee. Everything about representation itself follows the federal contingency rules above.
From first call to final rating
No mystery, no runaround. A few clear steps, and the first one is free.
Watch how a claim actually gets filed- 1
Talk it through, free
Call or chat with Albert and lay out where your claim stands. No cost, no obligation, no pressure to sign anything.
- 2
Put your file under the microscope
We review your entire claim history: decisions, exams, effective dates. We find what the VA missed and what was used against you.
- 3
Build the case
We gather the records, nexus evidence, and buddy statements that turn a weak claim into one they have to grant.
- 4
File or appeal, correctly
We submit your claim or appeal in the right lane, with the right evidence, before the right deadline. No guessing.
- 5
Represent you through the decision
You have an accredited agent in your corner until the VA decides. No hand-off, no call center. The same person who built your case sees it through.
- 6
Carry it through the next appeal
If the first decision comes back wrong, we do not walk away. Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, or the Board, whichever lane protects your effective date and your back pay.
Exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, or contaminated water? Check it yourself.
Most veterans have no idea the VA already presumes their condition is service-connected. These are working tools you run yourself — no account, no email, no cost. Answer a few questions and see exactly what your service exposed you to and what you may now qualify for, then bring the results to us and we’ll build the claim.
PACT Act ScreenerScan your service for PACT Act presumptions
Answer a few questions about where you served and what you were exposed to. The screener instantly maps your service against the PACT Act presumptive lists and shows which conditions the VA now presumes are connected — no medical nexus required.
Run the PACT Act Screener
Lived Exposures by Duty StationLook up what you were exposed to — by where you served
Enter your duty stations, era, and job. The lookup pulls the documented hazards tied to those locations — burn pits, herbicides, radiation, contaminated water and more — so you can connect the dots between where you served and the conditions you carry today.
Open the Exposure LookupIf your claim feels stuck, underrated, or flat-out wrong, this is how you find out why. We put your entire file under a microscope and hand you a clear, prioritized plan, whether you hire us afterward or not.
What is inside your report
- 1
Military History & Medical Review
We map your service, deployments, and in-service events against your current diagnoses to build the foundation for service connection.
- 2
Claims & Decision Timeline
Every claim, rating decision, and effective date in order, so we see exactly how the VA has treated your file over time.
- 3
Evidence Gap Analysis
The exact records, nexus letters, and buddy statements that are missing or weak, and what would strengthen each contention.
- 4
Examiner (C&P) Report Breakdown
A close read of your C&P exams to flag inadequate opinions, wrong criteria, and findings that were used against you.
- 5
Law Application Check
Whether the right law was applied: PACT Act presumptions, TDIU, Special Monthly Compensation, effective date rules.
- 6
Missed Opportunities
Secondary conditions, unfiled toxic-exposure claims, and SMC or back-pay avenues that were never pursued.
- 7
Prioritized Action Checklist
A ranked, plain-English plan of exactly what to file, fix, and gather next, in the order that moves your rating the fastest.
Two paths, one phone call
Talking to a VA-accredited claims agent costs you nothing. The only difference is what you want to do next: get answers, or hire us to fight your claim.
Have questions? Book a free consultation
For veterans who want information first. Use the form here and an accredited agent will look at where your claim stands and tell you honestly what we’d do next — even if that turns out to be something you can do yourself for free. No paperwork, no commitment, nothing to sign.
Decided you want us on your claim? Register with us
For veterans who are ready to hire us. Registering is free too — it opens our registration form so we can take your case on properly.
What registering involves: you fill out our registration form, and you sign VA Form 21-22a, the power of attorney that appoints us as your representative. By law we cannot accept your claim, work on it, or contact the VA on your behalf until that 21-22a is signed. Until then, anything we do is only a free consultation.
- VA-accredited claims agent #45147
- No fees unless you win your claim
- A real accredited agent reviews your file — never a call center
Office hours: Mon–Fri, 11:00 – 18:00 Pacific
