A rating isn't carved in stone. When a service-connected condition gets worse, you can file to move it up a tier, and the timing can be worth real money in back pay. But the same filing triggers a re-exam, and a re-exam that finds improvement can push the rating the other way. The move is to file when you're genuinely worse, prove it with a dated record, and know what's protected before you disturb it.

Watch the full breakdown, then keep reading for the timing play and the forms.

An increase is a new claim, not a renewal

Every Diagnostic Code has tiers — 10, 30, 50, 70, 100% — and a condition sitting at 30% can climb if it has genuinely gotten worse. But a claim for increase carries a fresh burden of proof. The VA reopens the file, looks at where you are now, and decides again. That's what makes an increase both an opportunity and a risk: the door swings both ways once you open it.

The three gates before you file

Before you send anything in, three things should all be true. Miss one and you're either wasting a filing or handing the VA a reason to look at reducing you.

Gate 1
Clearly worse
Not "about the same." Symptoms that used to be manageable now cut into your daily function or your work.
Gate 2
Evidence backs it
Treatment records, a doctor's note, or a recent diagnosis showing the worse picture. The VA won't take your word for it.
Gate 3
Meets the next tier
Read the criteria for the next level on your Diagnostic Code and confirm your symptoms actually reach it.
All three should be true before you file for an increase

That third gate is the one veterans skip. If you're at 30% and the evidence still only supports 30%, the claim fails, so check the criteria for the next level on your Diagnostic Code before you file, not after.

Gate 2 is where your own account carries weight. Our free personal statement builder prompts you through how the condition has changed, how bad the worst days get, and what it costs you at work and at home — the specifics a rater needs to see the worse picture.

Where the money is: the one-year lookback

Increase claims break the normal effective-date rule, and they break it in your favor. Normally the effective date is the day you file. But for an increase, 38 CFR § 3.400(o)(2) lets the VA reach back to the earliest date it's factually ascertainable that the condition worsened, as long as you file within a year of that date. Get worse in January, file in November, and the effective date can be January — ten extra months of back pay — but only if a dated record pins the worsening to January.

File coldNoveffective date defaults to the day you file
▶
With a dated recordJanreaches back up to a year — extra months of back pay
§ 3.400(o)(2): a dated worsening record moves the effective date back
The smart move most veterans miss See a doctor when the condition worsens, not just before you file. That dated note is what the back pay flows from. An undocumented claim filed in November with nothing earlier defaults to November — the money in between is gone.

The re-exam cuts both ways

Filing for an increase almost always triggers a Compensation and Pension re-exam, and it isn't optional — skip it and you risk an outright denial. That exam is a fresh snapshot of where you are now. If the examiner decides you've actually improved, the rating can go down instead of up. So the same filing that can raise your rating is also the opening the VA would need to lower it.

File when
You control the timing
Genuinely worse, and provable
  • Your condition has clearly deteriorated
  • A dated record documents the worse level
  • The symptoms meet the next tier's criteria
The reduction risk
What filing exposes
When the re-exam can hurt you
  • You're only "about the same," so the exam may find improvement
  • You skip or no-show the re-exam, treated as a denial
  • You disturb a stable rating with weak evidence
The re-exam is the double-edge: it can raise or reduce the rating

Walk in prepared. Describe your worst days honestly and bring your current records, the same way you would for the original exam.

Know what's protected before you disturb it

Before you file, find out whether the rating you're about to reopen is protected, because some ratings are far harder for the VA to touch than others.

Five years or more (§ 3.344). A rating held five years or longer gets heightened protection. The VA has to show sustained material improvement before it can reduce, and a different examiner's opinion alone doesn't establish that. The protection survives your increase claim, but the re-exam is the opening the VA would need.

A total rating (§ 3.343). A 100% rating is harder still. It can't be reduced without an exam showing material improvement under the ordinary conditions of life — improvement while working or seeking work, not from rest. A 100% or permanent-and-total rating carries the strongest protection there is, so think hard before disturbing one.

Weigh the alternatives first If the condition keeps you from working, TDIU pays at the 100% rate without a 100% schedular rating. And if the worsened condition caused a new problem — a bad knee that changed your gait and wrecked a hip — that's a separate secondary claim, not part of the increase.

How to file

Lock the clock the same day with an Intent to File on VA Form 21-0966 (online at va.gov, or the form at va.gov/forms/21-0966), which freezes the earliest possible effective date while you assemble evidence. Then file the increase itself at va.gov/disability/file-disability-claim-form-21-526ez on VA Form 21-526EZ, marking it as a claim for increase on an existing service-connected condition, and attach the current evidence showing the worse level, including that dated record. A Supplemental Claim on VA Form 20-0995 also works if you have new and relevant evidence. What counts as worsening and when to file is laid out at VA.gov's when-to-file page.

Traps that cost veterans money

Filing with no dated record of when you worsened.

That forfeits the one-year lookback and drops the effective date all the way to the filing date. The back pay you could have claimed is simply gone.

Filing when you're only "about the same."

You hand the re-exam a chance to find improvement and cut the rating. If you're not clearly worse, you're taking the risk without the reward.

Disturbing a stable 5-year or 100%/P&T rating on weak evidence.

Reopening a protected rating without strong proof of worsening can invite a reduction review of the very rating you were trying to raise.

Skipping or no-showing the C&P re-exam.

It's treated as a denial. The exam isn't optional once you file for an increase.

Treating a new secondary condition as part of the increase.

A problem the worsened condition caused is its own separate secondary claim. Folding it into the increase can cost you both.

Your next moves

  1. Confirm all three gates honestly — especially that your symptoms meet the next tier on your Diagnostic Code.
  2. Get a dated medical record now that pins when the condition worsened. That's the § 3.400(o)(2) money date.
  3. File an Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) today to lock the effective-date clock.
  4. File the increase on VA Form 21-526EZ, marked as an increase, with the current evidence attached.
  5. Before filing, check whether the rating is protected (5+ years or 100%/P&T), and prep for the re-exam.
Related guides TDIU explained · Secondary conditions · When to file

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Veteran Field Manual

Plain-English field guides to the VA benefits system, drawn from primary federal sources and paired with the free Veteran Field Manual video series and PDF library.

Sources

Rules and figures change; confirm current details at the primary sources before acting. VA.gov reorganizes pages, so confirm a link if it moves.

  • 38 CFR § 3.400(o)(2) — Effective dates; the one-year lookback for increase claims
  • 38 CFR § 3.344 — Stabilization of disability evaluations (5-year reduction protection)
  • 38 CFR § 3.343 — Continuance of total disability ratings
  • 38 U.S.C. § 5110(b)(3) — Statutory authority for the increase-claim effective date
  • VA.gov — When to file; File for disability (Form 21-526EZ); VA Forms 21-0966, 20-0995

Veteran Field Manual is an independent educational resource. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. Informational only — not legal, medical, or VA-accredited claims advice.