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Pension Poaching — Nobody May Charge You to File for a VA Pension

DMVA names the scheme and the route out of it: accredited service officers file your claim for nothing, and the Attorney General’s Military and Veterans Affairs section takes the complaint when someone has charged you for it.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

DMVA names the scheme and the route out of it: accredited service officers file your claim for nothing, and the Attorney General’s Military and Veterans Affairs section takes the complaint when someone has charged you for it.

What it's worth: Free accredited help with a pension claim, and a place to report the people who charge for it

  • The value is the fee you do not pay and the assets you do not restructure. Both vary enormously with the scheme, so no figure would be honest.
  • DMVA states that roughly 200 accredited veteran service officers operate in Pennsylvania through the department, county veterans affairs offices and veterans service organisations.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or a beneficiary who could be targeted.
  • Your home is in Pennsylvania.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Start from the rule DMVA states: you should never pay for forms, for submitting an application, for restructuring assets to meet eligibility, for a promise of pension eligibility, or for a lump sum against a future pension.
  2. 2Use an accredited service officer instead. DMVA counts roughly 200 across the department, the county veterans affairs offices and the veterans service organisations, and their help with a claim is free.
  3. 3Be suspicious of the pattern DMVA describes: selling questionable financial products, charging fees to move assets, or selling overpriced in-home care alongside a pension promise.
  4. 4Report it to the Office of Attorney General’s Military and Veterans Affairs section on 717-783-1944, or by email to PAvets@attorneygeneral.gov.
  5. 5If you file online through the Attorney General’s complaint portal, use the consumer form and tick the military and veteran box so it reaches that section rather than the general queue.
  6. 6Tell your county director of veterans affairs as well. A scheme working one county is usually working the ones next to it.
File with
An accredited veteran service officer, and the Office of Attorney General to report a scheme
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionPaying someone to prepare a VA claim is not a shortcut to a faster decision. DMVA’s own list of things a veteran should never pay for includes the submission of the application itself, which is exactly what the paid services sell.
Worth knowingThe asset-restructuring pitch is the dangerous one. Moving money to qualify for a pension can cost far more than the pension is worth and can affect other means-tested help — and the person selling it does not carry that risk.
Known gapDMVA’s page cites no Pennsylvania statute or Act creating an offence or a licensing requirement for people who charge for benefits assistance. We could not read the Attorney General’s own material this session — it returned 403 to both the fetcher and the browser — so whether a specific state prohibition exists is unresolved here.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.