Frequently Asked Questions

RateMyVSO is a free, community-driven platform where veterans, their families, and caregivers can find and review VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representatives. Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about who will advocate for your VA benefits.

No. RateMyVSO is an independent, volunteer-operated platform. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. Representative data is sourced from the publicly available VA Office of General Counsel (OGC) Accreditation Database.

First, create a free account and verify your email address. Then find the representative or organization you want to review using our search tools, visit their profile, and click "Write a Review." You can rate them on overall experience plus specific categories like responsiveness, communication, expertise, and claim success.

No. Anyone can search for representatives, view profiles, read reviews, and use the map — all without an account. You only need an account to submit reviews, send messages, or claim a representative profile.

You can delete your review at any time from the representative's profile page or from your user profile. Each user is limited to one review per representative or organization. If you want to change your review, delete the existing one and submit a new one.

Yes. All reviews are subject to moderation. Our volunteer team reviews flagged content and may remove reviews that violate our Terms of Service — including fake reviews, personal attacks, spam, or content that contains personal information. Reviews appear immediately after submission but can be removed by moderators.

If you see a review that you believe violates our guidelines, click the "Flag" button on the review card. Select a reason and our moderation team will review it. You must be logged in to flag a review.

Visit your profile page and click "Claim This Profile." You'll need to provide your VA OGC registration number and upload a verification document (such as your VA accreditation letter or ID). An administrator will review your claim and verify your identity. Once approved, you can:

• Respond to reviews on your profile
• Update your bio, contact email, and other details (subject to admin approval)
• Upload a profile photo
• Manage all profiles associated with your registration number

No. When you claim your profile using your VA registration number, all profiles associated with that registration number are automatically linked to your account. You can manage all of them from a single Rep Dashboard.

Representative names, registration numbers, organizational affiliations, and locations are sourced from the VA Office of General Counsel (OGC) Accreditation Database, which is publicly available. Street addresses are enriched through research of state and county veterans service office directories.

The Condition Lookup tool translates the VA's diagnostic code rating schedule from legal jargon into plain English. You can search by condition name (like "sleep apnea" or "bad knee") or VA diagnostic code number to see how the VA rates your condition, what they measure at your C&P exam, and what evidence strengthens your claim. We cover 725 diagnostic codes across all body systems.

We combined data from five government sources — the VA Annual Benefits Report, GAO audits, VA Inspector General reviews, PACT Act performance data, and our own analysis of 19,000+ Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions — to give you real data about each condition. This includes how many veterans have the condition, initial approval rates, what evidence the Board found persuasive, and common reasons claims are denied or sent back. This data is for educational purposes and does not guarantee any specific outcome.

The BVA Insights page is a curated summary of findings from our analysis of over 19,000 Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions from 2023-2026. It shows the most common secondary condition appeals, increased rating patterns, what evidence wins at the Board, and VA Inspector General findings about claims processing errors. This is appeal-level data — it shows what happened when veterans challenged their denied or underrated claims.

A secondary condition is a disability caused or worsened by a condition you're already service-connected for. For example, PTSD can lead to sleep apnea, or a knee injury can cause back problems. Our Secondary Conditions tool shows you which conditions are commonly claimed as secondary to yours, with medical basis and evidence guidance. Some condition pages also show Board of Veterans' Appeals grant rates for specific secondary pairs.

The PACT Act page lists all 82 presumptive conditions under the PACT Act (burn pit exposure, Agent Orange, radiation, Gulf War illness). If you served in a qualifying location during a covered period, the VA presumes your condition is service-connected — you don't have to prove the link. We also show official VA grant rates for the top PACT Act conditions and VA Inspector General findings about denial errors.

The Top Conditions page ranks the most common VA service-connected disabilities by number of veterans receiving compensation. It shows the top 10 conditions overall, the top 10 being filed right now (FY2024), initial approval rates from GAO data, and the top 3 conditions within each body system. Data is sourced from the VA Annual Benefits Report FY2024 and GAO-23-106097.

The Share Your Outcome feature lets veterans anonymously share the result of their VA disability claim — what condition, what type of claim, what outcome, what rating, and how long it took. This data is combined with other veterans' submissions to show community trends on condition pages. Individual submissions are never displayed publicly. You need an account to submit, and you can choose to remain anonymous. Community data only appears once 10 or more veterans share outcomes for a given condition.

If you're the representative, you can claim your profile and submit corrections. If you're a user, please contact us with the details and we'll investigate.

Yes. Passwords are encrypted and cannot be read by anyone, including administrators. Email addresses are never displayed publicly. We do not sell or share your data with third parties. For full details, see our Privacy Policy.

Use our Contact page to send a message. Please note that RateMyVSO is maintained by a small volunteer team, so response times may vary. We read every message and appreciate your patience.

Yes, completely free. RateMyVSO is a nonprofit, volunteer-operated project. There are no fees, subscriptions, or premium tiers. We believe veterans deserve free access to transparent information about their representation.