Duty-to-Assist Errors: What They Are and How to Spot One in Your VA Decision

On November 3, 2026, The Beam, a newsroom of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University, published an analysis of VA's own published data by Phineas Hogan: "As the VA leans on automation, errors in veterans' claims soar." It reports:

• Errors in gathering evidence that were found on review rose from about 66,000 in fiscal year 2021 to more than 329,000 in fiscal year 2026.
• The share of Higher-Level Review decisions sent back so VA could collect more evidence and decide again went from about 23% in fiscal 2021 to about 35% in fiscal 2026.
• VA uses an Automated Decision Support tool on a growing share of claims, and its budget request sets a goal of using it on 90% of claims by the end of 2027.

Read those numbers with care. VA disputes that automation causes the errors. Its spokesperson told The Beam there is no evidence the tool is causing them, and VA says more appeals mean more errors get caught. VA doesn't publish error rates for automated claims separately, so nobody outside VA can say how many of these errors involved the tool. And an error is only counted when a Veteran asks for a review, so the figures say nothing about any one claim, including yours.

What the report does show is that evidence-gathering errors are common enough to check for. The rest of this guide shows how.

The rules are in 38 U.S.C. § 5103A and 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c). In plain terms, VA must make reasonable efforts to get:

• Your service records, including service treatment records, for a disability compensation claim (§ 3.159(c)(3)).
• Your VA medical records and records from other federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration. For federal records, VA generally keeps trying until it gets them or it's reasonably certain they don't exist or further efforts would be futile (§ 3.159(c)(2)).
• Private records you tell VA about and authorize it to request, usually on VA Forms 21-4142 and 21-4142a. For these, reasonable efforts generally mean a first request and at least one follow-up (§ 3.159(c)(1)).
• A medical exam or opinion when one is needed to decide the claim. Under § 3.159(c)(4), that's generally when the record lacks enough medical evidence to decide, but shows a current disability or symptoms, an event, injury or disease in service, and some indication the two may be connected.

The duty has limits. You still have to identify your records and sign the authorizations, and VA doesn't have to chase records it has good reason to think don't exist. If VA can't get records it tried for, it must tell you which ones, what it did to try, and what it will do next (§ 3.159(e)).

Get out your decision letter and, if you have it, your C-file. The "Evidence" list in the letter is VA's own list of what it looked at. How to Read Your VA Decision Letter shows where to find it. Then check:

• Records you told VA about that aren't in the evidence list. Think of a private doctor you named on a 21-4142, a VA clinic you were treated at, or records from another federal agency.
• No exam, or an exam that missed the point. Was there no exam at all for a condition you claimed? Did the examiner look at a different condition, or skip the theory you raised, such as a secondary connection to another service-connected condition? The C&P exam guide covers what an adequate exam looks like.
• Records VA said it couldn't get, with no notice to you. If the letter says records were unavailable but you never got a letter explaining what VA tried, that's worth a closer look.
• A condition you raised that the decision never addresses. Compare the issues in the letter with what you claimed. An issue that's missing entirely was never decided.

Not every gap is an error. Sometimes the records were added under a different name, or VA's attempts are noted somewhere else in the file. A C-file request lets you check the whole record before you decide what to do.

A duty-to-assist error is a reason to ask VA for another look. It doesn't by itself mean the decision would come out differently. Each review option handles it in its own way:

• Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996). A senior VA reviewer looks again at the same evidence. No new evidence. If the reviewer finds VA broke its duty to assist before the decision and can't grant the full benefit on the existing record, the claim goes back to fix the error and be decided again (38 C.F.R. § 3.2601(g)). Must be filed within one year of the date on your decision letter.
• Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995). VA decides again with new and relevant evidence, which can include the records that were missing. VA must help you get records you identify. Can be filed at any time, but filing within one year of the date on your decision letter protects your earliest effective date.
• Board appeal (VA Form 10182). A Veterans Law Judge decides, on the Direct Review, Evidence Submission or Hearing docket. If the Board finds a duty-to-assist error before the decision you appealed, it sends the case back to be corrected (38 C.F.R. § 20.802(a)). Must be filed within one year of the date on your decision letter.

Each option has trade-offs in time and in what evidence you can add. HLR, Supplemental Claim, or Board Appeal? compares them side by side, and VA's appeal deadline guide explains how the one-year window is counted. You choose the option.

The free decision check reads your decision letter and shows the issues to look at and your deadlines. You stay in control of what you do next.

ClaimScope is software, independent of VA. This is general information, not legal advice. No outcome is guaranteed.