Find and Check Your VA Compensation Rate

Use the Table for the Right Period

VA publishes current disability compensation tables and links to historical rates. Open the official table when checking a payment instead of relying on a saved social-media chart. Rate adjustments can change payments without changing the percentage of your disability rating.

For a current monthly payment, use the table’s effective date to confirm that it covers the month you are checking. For back pay spanning several years, use the rates applicable to each period. Multiplying today’s monthly amount by every past month can overstate or understate an award. This guide deliberately leaves dollar amounts to the official tables.

Sources: VA: Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates

Identify the Rating or Payment Basis

Find your combined rating in your award or VA’s ratings tool. Do not add the individual evaluations. If your award includes Individual Unemployability, your compensation may be paid at the 100% level even though the underlying combined evaluation is lower. Read the letter’s payment explanation before choosing a row.

Write down the benefit type too. Disability compensation, pension, and survivor benefits have different eligibility and payment rules. A bank deposit description alone may not explain which program or period a payment covers. Match your question to the award you actually received.

Sources: VA: View Your Disability Ratings · VA: Individual Unemployability · VA: Review Your Payment History

Match VA’s Recognized Dependent Status

Additional disability compensation for qualifying dependents generally requires a combined rating of at least 30%. The standard 10% and 20% tables do not add amounts for dependents. At qualifying levels, use the row matching the dependents VA recognizes, not simply everyone living in your home.

Eligible relatives can include a spouse, qualifying children, and certain dependent parents. Age, school attendance, disability, and financial dependency rules can matter. Check the official dependent guidance if your family circumstances do not fit an obvious row. Adding someone to a healthcare or military personnel record is not a substitute for checking your VA compensation dependency record.

Sources: VA: Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates · VA: Manage Dependents

Read the Added-Amount Instructions Carefully

Some rate rows already include one child. The additional-child table may then apply to other qualifying children, with different treatment for a child in an eligible school program. A qualifying spouse’s need for Aid and Attendance can also affect the amount. Follow the table instructions so you do not count the same person twice.

Special monthly compensation, often called SMC, uses separate designations for particular disabilities or care needs. It is not a routine extra percentage everyone receives after reaching 100%. If your award mentions SMC, use its designation and instructions rather than improvising an addition to the standard table.

Sources: VA: Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates · VA: Special Monthly Compensation Rates

Reconcile the Award With Actual Payments

Put the decision’s payment schedule beside your VA payment history. Compare the period, benefit type, recognized dependents, and amount authorized. If the deposit differs, look for an explanation in the award or another VA notice before assuming the rating is wrong.

Prepare a short question that identifies the unexplained period and difference. For example: the award describes one family status, but the dependent list shows another. Ask VA to clarify the record and any adjustment. Keep copies of the response. Avoid posting full award letters or banking screenshots publicly; share only through the appropriate secure channel.

• Save the award’s payment schedule.
• Check the official rate table for that period.
• Compare the dependent record with your actual circumstances.
• Ask VA about any unexplained withholding or adjustment.

Sources: VA: Review Your Payment History · VA: Manage Dependents

Keep Changes From Becoming Payment Problems

Report relevant family changes promptly, including divorce or a qualifying child leaving school. Continuing to receive a dependent addition after eligibility ends can create an overpayment. Review the current instructions for adding, removing, or updating dependents rather than waiting for a future rating claim.

Check your direct-deposit and contact details in your official VA account when needed. If a payment appears missing, use VA’s payment-history guidance and contact options. Keep a dated record of the issue and your follow-up. Neither a rate estimate nor a pending claim status is confirmation that a payment has been authorized.

Sources: VA: Manage Dependents · VA: Review Your Payment History

Common Questions