The Claims Backlog Just Fell Below 70,000 for the First Time Since 2020
By Shawn Cosner | July 24, 2026 | Veteran News
For the first time since February of 2020, the number of veterans waiting too long on a disability compensation or pension claim has dropped below seventy thousand. The Department of Veterans Affairs reports the backlog has fallen more than seventy four percent since January of 2025, and that the average claim is now processed in 77.7 days, the fastest figure the department has ever recorded.
The VA has also processed more than two million disability claims in fiscal year 2026 and awarded more than one hundred twenty four billion dollars in compensation and pension benefits to veterans and survivors.
Numbers at that scale can feel abstract, so here is the local translation. A claim in the backlog is a household waiting. It is a veteran in Marion County who filed fourteen months ago and has been checking a portal every week since. It is a surviving spouse in Preston County whose household budget assumed a decision that has not come. When the backlog falls, what actually happens is that specific people find out where they stand, and can plan.
Two things are worth saying alongside the good news.
First, a faster decision is not automatically a correct one. If your claim comes back denied or rated lower than you believe it should be, that decision is appealable, and the timeline for appealing is not indefinite. Read the letter. Note the date on it. Do not put it in a drawer.
Second, and we will keep repeating this as long as it stays true, you should never pay a fee to file an initial claim. It is against federal law for anyone to charge you for filing your first claim. Accredited representatives from Veterans Service Organizations, county Veterans Service Officers, and the West Virginia Department of Veterans Assistance will help you file at no cost. That help is free, it is professional, and it is available in our region. Anyone who tells you otherwise, or who asks for a percentage of your back pay to prepare an initial claim, is not someone you should be working with.
If you need help finding an accredited representative in Preston, Monongalia, Marion, Harrison, Taylor, Wood counties and surrounding areas, contact us and we will point you to one. We do not file claims and we do not charge for anything. We connect people to the free help that already exists and is underused.
The Veterans Crisis Line is available at all hours. Dial 988 and press 1.
