VA Disability Rating Protection — The 5, 10 & 20 Year Rules

Even a brand-new rating cannot simply be cut. When a change would reduce your compensation payment, 38 CFR 3.105(e) requires the VA to:

• Issue a rating that proposes the reduction and explains the reasons
• Notify you and give you 60 days to submit evidence showing the reduction should not happen
• Let you request a hearing before a final decision
• Delay the lower payment until after a further notice period following the final decision

On top of the process, the VA needs actual evidence of improvement — a review exam showing your condition got better — before reducing a compensable rating.

Once a rating has continued at the same level for 5 years or more, it is considered stabilized under 38 CFR 3.344. To reduce a stabilized rating, the VA must show:

• Sustained material improvement — not a one-time good day at an exam
• Improvement under the ordinary conditions of life and work — not just in a clinical setting
• A review exam at least as full and complete as the exam the rating was based on

Ratings in place less than 5 years for conditions likely to improve can be reduced on the basis of a re-examination showing improvement — but the 3.105(e) due process above always applies first.

After a condition has been service-connected for 10 or more years, the VA cannot sever service connection except upon a showing that:

• The original grant was based on fraud, or
• Military records clearly show the person did not have the required service or character of discharge

Key distinction: the 10-year rule protects the service connection itself, not the percentage. Your rating level can still go up or down (with evidence and due process), but the VA can no longer decide the condition isn’t service-connected at all. The clock runs from the effective date of the original grant of service connection — which may be earlier than the effective date of your current percentage.

Under 38 CFR 3.951(b), a disability that has been continuously rated at or above a given level for 20 or more years cannot be reduced below the lowest level held during that period — the only exception is a showing that the rating was based on fraud.

Example: a knee condition rated 40% continuously since 2006 hits the 20-year mark in 2026. From that point on, it can never be rated below 40% absent fraud — regardless of what any future exam shows.

Because the rule protects the lowest level held during the 20 years, a rating that bounced between 30% and 50% over that period is protected at 30%, not 50%.

A Permanent & Total (P&T) rating means the VA determined your disabilities are total (100% schedular or TDIU) and not expected to improve. With P&T status:

• The VA does not schedule routine future examinations
• Dependents may qualify for Chapter 35 (DEA) education benefits and CHAMPVA health coverage

How to tell if you’re P&T: your rating decision may say “no future examinations scheduled,” your award letter may mention Chapter 35/DEA eligibility, or your VA.gov benefit summary letter will show “permanent and total.” See our full P&T benefits guide and the VA’s P&T explainer.

All of these protection clocks run from the effective date of the rating or grant of service connection — the date printed in your rating decision — not from the date the decision letter was mailed, and not from the date payments started. (Payment actually begins the first day of the month after the effective date, under 38 CFR 3.31.)

You can find your effective dates in your rating decision letters or in your disability records on VA.gov.

Under 38 CFR 3.344, a rating that has continued at the same level for 5 years or more is considered stabilized. The VA cannot reduce a stabilized rating based on a single examination — it must show sustained material improvement under the ordinary conditions of life and work, and the reduction exam must be at least as full and complete as the exam that granted the rating.

The 5-year clock runs from the effective date of the rating.

Under 38 U.S.C. 1159 and 38 CFR 3.957, once a disability has been service-connected for 10 or more years, the VA cannot sever service connection except for fraud, or where military records clearly show the veteran lacked the required service or character of discharge.

The 10-year rule protects the service connection itself, not the percentage. The rating level can still change with proper evidence and due process, but the VA can no longer decide the condition isn’t service-connected.

Under 38 CFR 3.951(b), a disability that has been continuously rated at or above a given level for 20 or more years cannot be reduced below the lowest level held during that period — the only exception is a showing that the rating was based on fraud.

After 20 years, that percentage is effectively locked in as a lifetime floor.

No — filing for an increase does not put a protected rating at automatic risk. The VA reviews the condition when you file, and in uncommon cases can propose a reduction if the evidence shows improvement.

But every protection still fully applies: 5-year stabilization, the 20-year floor, 10-year service-connection protection, and 38 CFR 3.105(e) due process before any reduction takes effect.

No. Adding a spouse, child, or dependent parent is a purely administrative dependency action. It does not involve a medical review, does not trigger a re-examination, and never puts your rating at risk.

Veterans rated 30% or higher should always add eligible dependents — it only increases the monthly payment.

A P&T rating means the VA has determined your disabilities are total (100% or TDIU) and not expected to improve. With P&T status, the VA does not schedule routine future examinations.

To check whether you’re P&T: look for “no future examinations scheduled” in your rating decision, check for Chapter 35 (DEA) or CHAMPVA eligibility in your award letter, or download your benefit summary letter at VA.gov. Full details in our P&T benefits guide.

Under 38 CFR 3.105(e), when a change would lower your compensation payment, the VA must first issue a proposed reduction with its reasons, notify you, and give you 60 days to submit evidence. You can also request a hearing before a final decision.

If the VA finalizes the reduction, the lower payment doesn’t begin until after a further notice period following the final decision. A rating is never reduced automatically or without notice.

The main exception to the 10-year and 20-year protections is fraud — if the original rating or grant was obtained fraudulently, the protection does not apply. The 10-year rule also does not protect a grant where military records clearly show the person lacked qualifying service or character of discharge.

Absent fraud, a 20-year rating cannot go below its protected level, and service connection held 10+ years cannot be severed.