Protected VA Ratings: The 5-, 10-, and 20-Year Rules

A rating is not necessarily forever, but the longer you hold one, the harder VA has to work to reduce it. Three milestones matter, at 5, 10, and 20 years, and each protects something different. None of them is automatic to understand, and veterans routinely confuse what they cover. This guide takes each milestone in turn: what it locks, and what it does not.

First, what “protection” means

These rules govern reductions and severances, not the rating number itself. They do not stop VA from evaluating your condition; they raise the bar VA must clear before lowering an evaluation or cutting off service connection. And every one of them has the same override: none protects a rating that was obtained by fraud.

The 5-year rule: stabilized ratings

Under 38 CFR 3.344, a rating that has continued at the same level for 5 years or more is treated as stabilized, and VA cannot reduce it on the strength of a single re-examination. To lower a stabilized rating, the record must show material improvement in the condition, and it must be reasonably certain that the improvement will hold up under the ordinary conditions of life, not just on one good exam day. The reviewing exam also has to be at least as full and complete as the exams the rating was built on. This is the rule that stops a snapshot from undoing years of documented severity.

The 10-year rule: service connection locks in

Under 38 CFR 3.957, once service connection for a disability has been in effect for 10 or more years, VA cannot sever it, except on a showing that the original grant was based on fraud, or that military records clearly show you did not have the required service or character of discharge.

Read that carefully, because the protection is narrower than it sounds. It protects the fact of service connection, not the percentage. VA can still reduce the rating for a 10-year condition on the merits; what it cannot do is take the condition back to non-service-connected. That protection is narrower than a rating freeze: after 10 years the service connection stays, but VA can still lower the percentage, potentially even to 0 percent, as long as the condition itself remains service-connected.

The 20-year rule: the rating floor

Under 38 CFR 3.951(b), a disability that has been continuously rated at or above a given evaluation for 20 or more years cannot be reduced below that evaluation, except on a showing that the rating was based on fraud. This is the strongest of the three. If a condition has been rated 70 percent for 20 years, 70 becomes the floor. And this is the source of the “20-year protected total”: hold a 100 percent rating continuously for 20 years and, absent fraud, it can never be reduced.

The procedure VA must follow anyway

Even when none of the time-based rules bars a reduction, VA cannot simply lower your check. Under 38 CFR 3.105(e), VA has to first issue a proposed reduction that lays out the facts and reasons, give you 60 days to submit evidence that the rating should stay, and give you 30 days to request a predetermination hearing. Only after that process can a reduction take effect. Miss none of these deadlines: a reduction pushed through without the required notice is itself an error you can challenge.

What is not protected

The rating you were just granted is the most vulnerable, since none of the clocks has run. Conditions VA expects to improve, and ratings tied to a healing or post-surgical period, can be reduced on schedule. And fraud breaks every protection above, at any age of the rating. Permanence helps here too: a permanent and total rating generally takes you off the routine re-examination schedule entirely under 38 CFR 3.327, which is a different shield from the time-based rules but works toward the same end.

If VA proposes to reduce a rating, that is exactly the kind of decision a Higher-Level Review or Board appeal can challenge, and a free VA-accredited representative or VSO can respond to a proposed reduction at no cost. VeteranPlug is an independent reference, not affiliated with VA. If you are ever in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is free and confidential: dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255.