VA claims guide
How to Increase Your VA Disability Rating: Evidence, Secondary Conditions and Reviews
Ways to raise a VA disability rating: an increased rating claim, a secondary condition, a temporary 100% rating or a review, plus an evidence checklist.
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If you already have a VA rating and you think it no longer matches how your condition affects you, you are not stuck with it. There are several ways to ask the VA to increase a VA disability rating, and they work very differently. This guide explains how to increase your VA disability rating by choosing the right path, gathering the evidence the VA says it needs, and protecting your effective date. It also covers one risk many veterans overlook: asking for a new look at a condition can lead to a reexamination.
This is general information, not legal advice. Free help is available from an accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO). For the basics of increased ratings, combined-rating math and pyramiding, see our rating too low page first; this post is the step-by-step action plan that comes after it.
Which path fits your situation?
Before you file anything, decide why you think the rating should be higher. The answer points to a different path:
| Your situation | Usual path | What the VA looks for |
|---|---|---|
| A rated condition has gotten worse since your last decision | Claim for increased compensation (VA Form 21-526EZ) | Current evidence that the condition is worse |
| A rated condition caused or worsened a new condition | Secondary service connection claim (VA Form 21-526EZ) | A new diagnosis and a link to the rated condition |
| You were hospitalized more than 21 days, or had surgery needing a month or more to recover | Temporary total (100%) rating | Hospital or surgery records |
| You disagree with a recent rating decision on the evidence the VA had | Higher-Level Review or Board Appeal | An error in the decision |
| You have new and relevant evidence about a recent decision | Supplemental Claim | Evidence the VA did not consider before |
The first three are new claims. The last two are decision reviews of a decision you already received. Our post on choosing a decision review option covers the review lanes in detail. The rest of this guide focuses on the claims that raise a rating going forward.
Path 1: File a claim for increased compensation
The VA describes an increased claim as "a claim for more compensation for a disability that we've already determined to be service connected and that's gotten worse." According to the VA's evidence requirements page, you need to submit current evidence that your disability has gotten worse, using at least one of these:
- Medical records or medical opinions from health care providers
- Lay evidence, like a buddy statement (VA Form 21-10210)
You file it the same way as any disability claim: online, by mail with VA Form 21-526EZ, in person at a regional office, or with help from an accredited representative. See the VA's how to file a claim page.
What evidence actually helps an increased rating claim?
The VA rates each condition against criteria in the Schedule for Rating Disabilities. Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.1, the schedule calls for "accurate and fully descriptive medical examinations," with "emphasis upon the limitation of activity imposed by the disabling condition." In plain terms, the VA wants to see what the condition stops you from doing, not just the diagnosis.
That makes the most useful evidence specific:
- Find your diagnostic code. Your rating decision lists the code used for each condition. Look up the criteria for the next-higher percentage in 38 C.F.R. Part 4 so you know what the VA will be measuring.
- Get recent treatment records. Notes from the last several months that describe current symptoms, frequency, test results and limits carry more weight than old records.
- Ask your doctor to describe function. A treating provider can note things like how far you can walk, how often flare-ups happen, or how symptoms affect work and daily tasks. This page does not give medical advice; the content should reflect your provider's honest assessment.
- Add lay statements. You, a spouse, a coworker or a friend can describe what they have seen. The VA accepts lay evidence on a plain sheet of paper, VA Form 21-10210, or VA Form 21-4138.
- Attend the exam. If the VA schedules a claim exam, go. The VA's filing page says to be sure not to miss scheduled exams.
What happens if your symptoms fall between two ratings?
Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.7, when there is a question about which of two evaluations applies, "the higher evaluation will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria required for that rating." Otherwise the lower rating is assigned. Evidence that maps your symptoms to the wording of the higher criteria makes it easier for the rater to see that approximation.
Path 2: Claim a secondary condition
A secondary condition is a new disability caused or aggravated by a condition the VA already rates. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a), a disability "proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected." Section 3.310(b) also covers a non-service-connected condition that was made worse by a service-connected one, but the VA needs medical evidence showing the baseline severity before the aggravation began.
The VA says a secondary claim needs medical or lay evidence that:
- You have a new physical or mental condition, and
- There is a link between the new condition and the disability the VA has already service connected. Usually this means medical records or a medical opinion.
The regulation also lists a few automatic links. For example, if you have a service-connected moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, § 3.310(d) treats certain later conditions, such as Parkinsonism and unprovoked seizures, as caused by the TBI unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. Each listed condition has its own severity and time limits, so read the section before relying on it.
How a secondary condition changes your combined rating: a worked example
A new rating does not simply add to your old one. The VA combines ratings with the "whole person" method in the combined ratings table (38 C.F.R. § 4.25). Here is a hypothetical veteran with two rated conditions, using the VA's own table:
| Scenario | Individual ratings | Combined value | Combined rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | 30% and 10% | 37 | 40% |
| Condition A increases to 40% | 40% and 10% | 46 | 50% |
| A 20% secondary condition is added instead | 30%, 20% and 10% | 50 | 50% |
| Both happen | 40%, 20% and 10% | 57 | 60% |
The VA combines the highest rating with the next, then combines that unrounded value with the next rating, and rounds only at the end (values ending in 5 to 9 round up). You can try your own numbers on our VA rating calculator page. These figures are an illustration of the math, not a prediction of what any claim will receive.
Path 3: A temporary 100% rating after hospitalization or surgery
Two rules can pay a temporary total rating regardless of your usual percentage:
- Hospitalization. Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.29, a 100% rating is assigned when a service-connected disability required treatment in a VA or approved hospital, or hospital observation at VA expense, for more than 21 days.
- Convalescence. Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30, a 100% rating is assigned when treatment of a service-connected disability resulted in surgery needing at least one month of convalescence, surgery with severe postoperative residuals (such as incompletely healed wounds, a body cast, or required use of a wheelchair or crutches), or immobilization of a major joint by cast without surgery. It runs for 1, 2 or 3 months from the first day of the month after discharge, and can be extended in some cases.
When the temporary rating ends, the VA goes back to a regular schedular rating, which may reflect your condition after treatment. Send the hospital discharge summary or surgery records with the claim.
Protect your effective date (and your back pay)
For an increase in disability compensation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(o)(2) sets the effective date at the earliest date it is "factually ascertainable" that the increase happened, if a complete claim or intent to file is received within one year of that date. Otherwise, it is the date the VA receives the claim.
That rule gives you two practical habits:
- Do not wait years after things get worse. If medical records show the increase more than a year before you file, the extra time is generally lost.
- Use an intent to file. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.155(b), a complete claim received within one year of an intent to file is treated as filed on the intent-to-file date. The VA's intent to file page explains that starting a disability claim online with a verified account reserves the date automatically, and that you can have only one active intent to file at a time.
Our effective date page covers the other effective-date rules.
Can asking for an increase lower your rating?
It can lead to a new look. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.327, the VA may request a reexamination when evidence suggests "a material change in a disability or that the current rating may be incorrect." An increased claim usually comes with a new exam, and that exam records whatever it finds.
Some protections apply. Section 3.327(b)(2) says periodic reexaminations generally are not scheduled for disabilities established as static, for findings that have persisted without material improvement for five years or more, or for veterans over 55, except in unusual circumstances. And under 38 C.F.R. § 3.951(b), a rating held continuously at or above a level for 20 or more years will not be reduced below that level except for fraud. These rules limit routine reexams and reductions; they do not stop the VA from examining a condition you put at issue. The practical lesson is to file when the evidence genuinely shows your condition is worse, and to be accurate about your symptoms on good days and bad days.
A checklist before you file
- Pull your latest rating decision and note each condition, its percentage and its diagnostic code.
- Read the criteria for the next-higher rating for the condition you want increased.
- Collect treatment records from the past year that describe current symptoms and limits.
- List any new conditions you think a rated disability caused or worsened, and ask a provider whether a medical opinion supports a link.
- Gather discharge summaries or surgery records for any long hospital stay or major surgery.
- Ask one or two people who see you regularly for lay statements.
- Start the claim online or submit an intent to file so your effective date is protected while you finish.
- Keep copies of everything you send, and watch your mail and VA.gov account for exam requests.
If your combined rating is high and your conditions keep you from working, read our TDIU page as well, since the VA says Individual Unemployability may let you get compensation at the same level as a veteran with a 100% rating.
Get help with your rating
An accredited attorney, claims agent or VSO representative can help you file an increased rating or secondary claim, and VSO help is free. You can read more on our free help, rating too low and appeal options pages. VA Disability Help is a marketing service, not a law firm, is not affiliated with the VA, and does not give legal advice. If you would like your rating situation reviewed, use the form below and your request will be reviewed by Milberg, PLLC. Submitting a request does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Sources
- How to file a VA disability claim, VA.gov
- Evidence needed for your disability claim, VA.gov
- About disability ratings and the combined ratings table, VA.gov
- Individual Unemployability if you can't work, VA.gov
- Your intent to file a VA claim, VA.gov
- 38 C.F.R. § 3.155, How to file a claim, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 3.310, Secondary service connection, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 3.327, Reexaminations, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 3.400, Effective dates, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 3.951, Preservation of disability ratings, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 4.1, Essentials of evaluative rating, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 4.7, Higher of two evaluations, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 4.29, Ratings requiring hospital treatment or observation, eCFR
- 38 C.F.R. § 4.30, Convalescent ratings, eCFR
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