US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Customer Service

Phone Number & Contact Information

800-698-2411
Toll-free·Calls Main Information Line·Most popular US Dept. of Veterans Affairs number
Q:How do I get a live human at US Dept. of Veterans Affairs?
A:Direct to a human
Q:Does US Dept. of Veterans Affairs offer 24 hour customer service?
A:Yes! This call center operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The least busy day is Tuesday, and the most busy day is Thursday. Details
Q:How long will I have to wait on hold?
A:The average hold time is 3 minutes. The longest hold times are on Friday, and the shortest are on Thursday.
Read below for more aboutother numbersgetting a repmenuspromptshold timesbusy timescommon issuesother contact information

More US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Customer Phone Numbers

800-827-1000 - Benefits Hotline
Toll-free · Press 1, then 0, then 4, then 2 · Check the status of the claim, press 8.
800-827-0648 - Debt Management
Toll-free · Call this number for the Debt Management department · Debt Management Center - If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7. Self-help options, press 9. Credit card or HCH payment, press 1. Education debt, press 2. Pension debt, press 3. Military debt, press 4. Disaster relief, press 5.
888-442-4551 - GI Bill Hotline
Toll-free · Direct to a human · Education helpline - If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7 now. Montgomery GI Bill verifying your attendance, visit our website or press 1. Direct deposit, automated payment history system, press 2. Debt Management Center, press 3. Spouse or dependent of a VA who died on 911, press 5.
877-222-8387 - Health Benefits Hotline
Toll-free · Direct to a human · Enrollment in VA healthcare, press 1. Billing, collections, or insurance, press 2. Benefits administration, press 3. For any other questions, press 0 for the operator.
877-327-0022 - My HealtheVet Help Desk
Toll-free · Direct to a human · Please hold for the next help desk representative.

How do I get through the phone menu to a real live person?

GetHuman researchers routinely call this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone number to document the phone system.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Direct to a human
Here is how our research team describes the way the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone system greets you: If you are having thoughts of suicide, press 7. Homeless helpline, press 6. Pack Act main menu, press 8.
Below are some clips we've found from US Dept. of Veterans Affairs's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:
Heard when the phone system first answers
"Welcome to the Department of Veterans Affairs. If you are having thoughts of suicide, press seven now to be connected to the veteran's crisis line. To be connected to the veteran homeless helpline, press six now."
Excerpt from a call with US Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Friday, March 15, 2024 1:06 PM

What are the hours and when should I call?

US Dept. of Veterans Affairs operates the call center for this 800-698-2411 phone number 24 hours, 7 days. The short answer is that you should call on a Tuesday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 879 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like US Dept. of Veterans Affairs staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is Tuesday. The most busy day to call is Thursday. Again, this is based on a sample of 879 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Thursday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Friday.
The best time to call
In summation, the best day to call US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is Tuesday. This is not the day with the shortest wait on hold in the phone system, but we still recommend it for its ideal combination of low call volume and short hold times. Plus we believe that US Dept. of Veterans Affairs staffs the call center well on Tuesday.

Why call this US Dept. of Veterans Affairs number?

Below is a sample of recent calls to US Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Checking status of dependency claim: "I'm just wondering why it's taking so long to do that simple task."
- From a call lasting 11m 21s , Mar 15, 2024 1:06 PM
Adding dependents to VA claim: "I'm just trying to add my dependents to my VA claim, but it's been almost eight months and I'm wondering where it is."
- From a call lasting 20m 9s , Mar 15, 2024 12:28 PM

My Experience Calling 800-698-2411

Nov 23, 2023

I am a recently discharged veteran who is looking into my healthcare options. While I realize that I should have taken care of this already, rejoining the civilian world has had many challenges and somehow, sorting out my healthcare somewhat fell through the cracks. I realized that I needed a physical to address some issues. Aging is tough, and I didn't want to be caught off-guard. I figured the best way to get to the bottom of the problem was to call the Department of Veteran Affairs and talk to someone about my options. 

I know that this line probably gets a lot of phone calls, and government things never seem to go that fast. It handles everything from general inquiries to VA benefits and services, so there is probably a heavy call load. This country has a lot of veterans, and most of the time, their needs are ignored. 

That said, it took some time to get through the options, and then I had to wait on hold for a while, but it wasn't a terrible experience. I would recommend any of my buddies who also need help sorting through veteran issues to call and get the assistance they need.

After dialing, a voice said, "Welcome to the Department of Veteran Affairs. If you are having suicidal thoughts, press 7 now to be connected to the Veteran’s crisis line. To be connected to the Veteran Homeless Help Line press 6 now." There was a second pause that confused me, but then it picked up right after with a new list of options. 

These options were: "For Mission Act, general inquiries, community health care, or urgent care information, please press 1. For issues around healthcare eligibility, enrollment, or payments related to healthcare, press 2. If you are already enrolled in VA healthcare and want to connect to your local VA medical center, press 3. For questions related to burial benefits, payments, or scheduling, press 4. For nonhealthcare benefits such as disability or amputation, press 5. To submit a compliment about your VA benefits or services, to report a sexual assault or harassment, or an issue you have been unable to resolve, please press 9. If you are unsure of what option will fit your needs, press 0, and we will be happy to help you."

I pressed 2 since that seemed to fit my needs the best, and it told me to stay on the line while it transferred my call. I waited about 20-25 minutes here, but then I got an agent who walked me through the enrollment process, and it really was worth the wait. 

Adam has been tirelessly trying to help customers find the best tips and tricks to get through phone trees and writing many guides for prickly customer service problems. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inside Edition and Bloomberg.

More Ways to Contact US Dept. of Veterans Affairs Customer Service

There are of course other ways to contact US Dept. of Veterans Affairs customer service besides the phone. Below we list the best ones, by medium.
US Dept. of Veterans Affairs's website
As a last, sometimes only, resort- US Dept. of Veterans Affairs customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.

Conclusion and closing notes

This is US Dept. of Veterans Affairs's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a US Dept. of Veterans Affairs agent. This phone number is US Dept. of Veterans Affairs's best phone number because 5,274 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-698-2411 include and other customer service issues. Rather than trying to call US Dept. of Veterans Affairs first, consider describing your issue first; from that we may be able to recommend an optimal way to contact them via phone or web. In total, US Dept. of Veterans Affairs has 6 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to US Dept. of Veterans Affairs representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.

GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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