If your service-connected condition has gotten worse, you may be wondering whether VA can increase your monthly disability compensation. That question comes up often, especially for veterans dealing with pain that has intensified, mental health symptoms that interfere more with daily life, or limitations that now affect work, mobility, sleep, or relationships in a bigger way than before.
An increased-rating claim is the process VA uses when a condition is already service connected, but the current percentage no longer reflects how severe it has become. In plain English, it’s a request for VA to take another look at the level of disability and decide whether a higher evaluation is supported by the evidence.
In this post you’ll learn what an increased-rating claim is, when it may make sense to file one, what evidence often matters most, how effective dates and back pay usually work, what to expect from a C&P exam, and when legal help may be worth considering. If you want a broader overview first, this guide on how worsening conditions and re-evaluations fit together can help frame the bigger picture.
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VA describes an increased claim as a request for more compensation for a disability that has already been found service connected and has gotten worse. On its disability-claims pages, VA explains that veterans filing for an increase are generally asked to provide current evidence showing the condition has worsened, including medical records, medical opinions, or lay evidence such as a buddy statement. VA’s filing guidance and evidence requirements both make that distinction clear.
That matters because an increased-rating claim is not the same thing as:
It is specifically about severity. VA ratings are based on how serious the service-connected condition is under the rating schedule, not simply on the fact that the diagnosis exists. Under 38 C.F.R. § 4.1, the percentages in VA’s rating schedule are intended to reflect average impairment in earning capacity, and fully descriptive medical examinations are part of that process.
A lot of veterans start thinking about an increased rating when daily life looks meaningfully different from when VA last evaluated the condition. That can include: