Government & Civic

Intermediate

9 min read 6 stepsMay 8, 2026Verified May 2026

How to File a VA Disability Rating Increase Claim

Step-by-step guide for disabled senior veterans whose service-connected conditions have worsened and who want a higher monthly disability rating.

At a Glance

Confirm Your Current Rating and Decide Which Conditions Have Worsened

~57s

Sign in to va.gov with your ID.me, Login.gov, or DS Logon account. From your dashboard, click "View your VA disability ratings" to see every service-connected condition you are rated for, the percentage assigned to each, and the date the rating was set. Print this page or write the details down. Then, for each condition, ask yourself: Has this gotten measurably worse since the last rating? Worse means new doctor visits, new medications, new sleep problems, new pain that limits walking or sitting, new flare-ups, or a new diagnosis tied to the same body system. Make a written list of every condition you want to claim a higher rating for. You can file an increase claim for one condition or many at the same time on a single form. And you do not pay anything to file.

Quick Tip

Ratings that have been in place for twenty years are considered permanent under federal law and cannot be reduced. Ratings in place for five to twenty years require strong medical evidence to reduce. Filing an increase is low-risk for most older ratings.

Gather Medical Evidence That Shows the Condition Has Worsened

~57s

Strong evidence is what wins increase claims. For each condition on your list, collect the following: copies of doctor visit notes from the last twelve to twenty-four months, results of any tests like X-rays, MRIs, hearing exams, or sleep studies, a current medication list with dosages, and any letters from family members or caregivers describing how the condition affects daily life. If you receive care at a VA medical center, you can download these records for free at My HealtheVet or through the VA Health and Benefits app. If you see a private doctor, request a copy of your records at the front desk. Under federal law, most providers must give you a copy within thirty days. Ask your treating doctor to fill out a Disability Benefits Questionnaire, or DBQ, for each condition. The DBQ form for each condition is available at www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_publicdbqs.asp.

Warning

Do not exaggerate your symptoms. The VA medical examiner you will see during the claim will compare your statements to your medical records, and any inconsistency hurts your case. Be honest about good days and bad days.

Open Your Increase Claim Online at VA.gov

~1 min

Open your web browser, type va.gov in the address bar at the top, and press Enter. Click "File a claim" near the top of the home page, then click "File a Disability Compensation Claim." Sign in with the same account you used in step one. The system will display all your current rated conditions. Check the box next to each condition you want reviewed for an increase, and click "Next." The form will ask if your condition has worsened. And you check "Yes." You will then upload the medical records and DBQs you collected. The site accepts PDF and JPG files up to 99 MB total. Take your time on the symptom description sections. Describe in plain English what you can no longer do, what hurts more, and how often. Save your progress as you go. The system holds drafts for sixty days.

Quick Tip

Use the Intent to File option first if you are not ready to submit. This protects your back-pay start date for up to one year while you gather evidence. It takes only two minutes to file an Intent to File and is found under the same Disability Claim section.

Attend Your Compensation and Pension Exam

~57s

After you submit, the VA will mail you a letter scheduling a Compensation and Pension exam, often called a C&P exam. This is a medical appointment with a VA-approved doctor or nurse practitioner whose only job is to measure your current condition for the rating board. The exam usually happens within thirty to sixty days of filing. The notice will tell you the date, time, address, and what to bring. Show up fifteen minutes early. Bring a list of your medications, a list of your symptoms with dates, and a written list of activities you used to do but can no longer do. Answer questions honestly and describe your worst days, not your best days. The examiner will write a report that the rating board uses to set your new percentage. You will not receive the report at the exam. But you can request a copy later at va.gov.

Warning

Missing your C&P exam without rescheduling will lead to a denial. If you cannot make the appointment, call the number on your letter at least three business days in advance to reschedule.

Track Your Claim and Respond to VA Requests

~54s

After your exam, the rating board reviews everything. You can track progress at va.gov by clicking "Check claim status" on your dashboard. The status will show stages like Claim received, Initial review, Evidence gathering, Review of evidence, Preparation for decision, and Closed. The VA may mail you letters asking for more information, often within thirty days. Respond promptly; you usually have thirty days to reply, and missing the deadline can lead to denial. The average increase claim takes about 130 days in 2026, though complex claims with several conditions can take six to nine months. When the decision is issued, you will receive a written rating decision in the mail and as a PDF in your va.gov account. The letter tells you each condition, the new rating, and the effective date for back pay.

Quick Tip

The VA Health and Benefits mobile app sends free push notifications every time your claim status changes. Download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play. It saves you from checking the website every day.

What to Do If the Decision Is Lower Than You Expected

~2 min

If the VA grants less than you asked for, or denies the increase, you have one year from the date on the decision letter to file a higher-level review, a supplemental claim, or a Board of Veterans Appeals appeal. A higher-level review asks a senior VA reviewer to re-read the same evidence with fresh eyes. You cannot add new evidence to this path. A supplemental claim lets you add new evidence, like a second DBQ from a specialist or a new test result. A Board appeal sends your case to a Veterans Law Judge in Washington and is the slowest path but allows a hearing. Free help with any of these paths is available from accredited Veterans Service Officers at the American Legion, VFW, DAV, or your state Department of Veterans Affairs. About 40 percent of appeals end with a higher rating, especially when the appeal includes new medical evidence.

Warning

Be careful of for-profit "claim consultant" companies that charge fees of 20 percent of your back pay or more. Free accredited help works as well or better in most cases. Federal law makes it illegal to charge a fee for help with a first claim before a decision is issued.

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A VA disability rating is the percentage the Department of Veterans Affairs assigns to a service-connected condition, in 10 percent steps from 0 to 100. The rating sets your tax-free monthly check. As of May 2026, a single veteran rated at 30 percent receives $537.42 each month, while a single veteran rated at 100 percent receives $4,044.91. If you are a senior veteran whose hearing has worsened, whose back pain has grown sharper, or whose PTSD now keeps you from sleeping, you may qualify for a higher rating. The VA calls this a rating increase claim. Filing one does not put your existing rating at risk in most cases, because the law protects ratings that have been in place for five years or longer from being reduced without strong medical evidence.

About 5.6 million American veterans receive monthly VA disability compensation, and roughly one in three are age 65 or older. Many conditions get worse with age, especially musculoskeletal injuries, hearing loss, tinnitus, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease tied to Agent Orange or burn pits, and mental health conditions like PTSD or depression. The VA expects veterans to file for rating increases when symptoms worsen, and the agency processes about 1.4 million claims a year. The average rating increase claim takes about 130 days in 2026, though some are decided in under 90 days.

Before you file, take an honest inventory of how your condition has changed. Pull your most recent VA medical records. Compare them to records from the year you were last rated. Look for new diagnoses, new medications, new restrictions on what you can do, and new doctor notes that describe worse symptoms. The stronger your medical evidence, the faster your claim will move and the more likely you are to win an increase. You do not need a lawyer to file. You can file online at va.gov, by paper using VA Form 21-526EZ, or with free help from an accredited Veterans Service Officer at the American Legion, VFW, DAV, or your county Veterans Affairs office.

One tip that helps many senior veterans: ask your doctor for a Disability Benefits Questionnaire, often called a DBQ. These are specific VA forms that doctors fill out to document how a condition affects you. A complete DBQ written by your treating physician, attached to your claim, often moves the case forward faster than any other piece of evidence. DBQs are free, available on va.gov, and many private doctors will fill them out at no charge during a normal appointment if you bring the form with you.

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Official Resources

USA.gov — Government Services SSA — Social Security Benefits.gov IRS Free File

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