Find your VA rating gap
Answer ten quick questions. You will see how VA math combines your ratings, what the next 10% pays in 2026, which deadlines are running for you, and what usually closes a gap like yours.
- No account.
- Not affiliated with the VA.
Where are you right now?
Pick the one that fits best. There are no wrong answers.
Your current combined rating?
It is on your most recent decision letter or your VA.gov profile.
Add each rated condition
One row per condition, with the percent from your rating code sheet. Tick the box for conditions that affect both arms or both legs, so the bilateral factor is applied.
Where should we send your gap report?
Six short questions left. Your full report shows on this page at the end, and we email you a copy so you can find it later.
Date on your most recent decision letter?
Most VA decisions can be reviewed for one year from this date. The month and year are enough.
Have you filed an Intent to File in the last year?
An Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) can hold your start date for back pay while you gather evidence.
Anything not rated yet, or worse than when it was rated?
Pick all that apply.
What does work look like for you now?
This helps us show the right education. It stays private.
Who is in your household?
Some benefits reach your spouse and children, so this shapes your report.
Are you married?
Children under 18, or under 23 and in school
Which state do you live in?
Many states add their own benefits for disabled veterans, like property tax relief and tuition waivers.
Here is where you stand
An estimate for education, based on what you entered. Your official rating is the one on your VA decision letter.
No rating yet
That is fine. Once you have ratings, the free VA disability calculator shows exactly how they combine.
How VA gets there (38 CFR 4.25 and 4.26)
You are {{pointsNeeded}} combined points from {{threshold}}, the value that rounds up to {{next}}%.
100% is the top of the rating schedule. What matters next is whether it is permanent and total, and whether Special Monthly Compensation applies (38 CFR 3.350).
Dependents add more from 30% up.
Your deadline
Your one-year window to keep this effective date runs to {{deadline}}, one year from your {{letterDate}} letter. Filing a Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review or Board appeal inside that year lets VA keep the original effective date (continuous pursuit, 38 CFR 3.2500). Check the exact day printed on your letter, because the window runs from that date.
That is close. This is the first thing to handle.
Your deadline
Your letter is dated {{letterDate}}, so the one-year window to keep that effective date likely closed around {{deadline}}. You can still file a new claim or a Supplemental Claim. The effective date is usually tied to when VA receives it (38 CFR 3.2500 and 3.400).
Intent to File
An Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966, or a claim started and saved on VA.gov, or by phone) tells VA you plan to file. If the complete claim arrives within one year, VA treats it as filed on the Intent to File date, which can add months of back pay (38 CFR 3.155(b)). It covers new claims and claims for increase. It does not apply to Supplemental Claims, which rely on the one-year decision window instead.
What usually closes a gap like yours
General education, not advice about your case. These are estimates of what often matters, not a promise of any result.
- Service connection needs three things: a current diagnosis, an event, injury or exposure in service, and a medical link between them. Some conditions, including many under the PACT Act, are presumed and skip the link (38 CFR 3.303, 3.307, 3.309).
- Ratings follow the exact words in the rating schedule (38 CFR Part 4). When a condition gets worse, a claim for increase is judged on how it is now, so recent treatment notes and a clear description of your worst days matter.
- A condition caused or made worse by a service-connected one can be rated as secondary (38 CFR 3.310). Sleep problems, migraines, radiculopathy, acid reflux, blood pressure and mental health are common examples. Each one needs a diagnosis and a medical opinion on the link.
- A denial is not the end. You have one year to pick a lane: a Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence, a Higher-Level Review for an error on the same record, or a Board appeal. The favorable findings in your letter are binding, so read those first (38 CFR 3.104(c)).
- While you wait, the C&P exam is the step you can prepare for most. VA can also still take new evidence on a pending claim.
- If your service-connected conditions keep you from holding a steady job, TDIU can pay at the 100% rate. The usual threshold is one condition at 60%, or 70% combined with one at 40%, and there is a path below those numbers too (38 CFR 4.16).
- At 90% and 100%, the key words are permanent and total (P&T). Check your decision letter for them. P&T is what opens several family benefits.
- The C&P exam drives most ratings. Knowing the rating criteria for your diagnostic code helps you describe your worst days accurately and completely.
For your family
At 100% permanent and total, your family may qualify for:
- Chapter 35 DEA: monthly education payments for your spouse and each eligible child, generally up to 36 months each.
- CHAMPVA: health coverage for your spouse and children who do not qualify for TRICARE.
Eligibility rules and age limits apply. Many states add property tax relief and tuition waivers at high ratings.
Your Playbook path
Based on your answers, these parts of the 100 Percent Playbook match where you are:
- Module 1: Rating Schedule Decoded for your conditions
- Module 2: Secondary conditions
- Module 3: Personal statements
- Module 4: The C&P exam
- Module 5: Deadlines and lanes
- Module 6: TDIU
- Module 7: P&T and SMC
- Module 8: Benefits by rating
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We emailed this report to {{email}}.
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100 Percent Vet is a private company, not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is general education, not legal advice, and no rating is ever guaranteed. Free help filing is available from accredited Veterans Service Organizations. If you are in crisis, call 988 and press 1, or text 838255.
The Playbook may not be the right fit yet
Thank you for answering. Based on what you told us, the 100 Percent Playbook is probably not the best next step for you right now.
You can still get solid help for free. The Field Manual covers the basics of how VA rates conditions, and an accredited Veterans Service Organization can help you file at no cost.
100 Percent Vet is a private company, not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs. This is general education, not legal advice. If you are in crisis, call 988 and press 1, or text 838255.