Review of VBA’s Unidentifiable Mail Certification Process

VA Office of Inspector General · Report 25-02228-172 · August 12, 2026 · Office of Audits and Evaluations

What the OIG found

The OIG checked whether VBA accurately certified mail packets as unidentifiable — meaning staff could not match submitted documents to a claimant’s electronic folder — as of March 1, 2025. Of more than 164,000 such packets, the OIG estimated about 35,100, or 21 percent, actually contained enough information to be matched, linked to at least $822,000 in underpayments since July 2018, with another 19,900 packets carrying potential benefit-affecting errors and nearly all sampled packets showing missed steps. Causes included staff skipping required identification steps, lacking access to needed systems, weak quality review, and no staff-specific training for this work. The OIG made five recommendations to strengthen controls, training, and oversight, noting VBA had begun expanding system access for contracted staff.

Who it concerns

Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) — certification of unidentifiable mail packets for disability compensation, pension, and other benefits

Why it matters to a family

A letter, medical record, or application a family mails in can decide a claim — if VA files it as ‘unidentifiable’ instead of matching it, the claim can be delayed, denied, or underpaid without the family ever knowing why.

The official report

The OIG’s report page · Full report (PDF)

Summary ours; the report is the OIG’s. Read it at vaoig.gov →