VA BENEFITS REFERENCE
Protected Ratings: The 5, 10 And 20 Year Rules
The five-, ten-, and twenty-year rules protect different things. Five years concerns stability before reduction; ten years protects service connection with exceptions; twenty years can protect a continuously maintained evaluation floor. None is a universal promise that every part of an award can never change.
Five Years: Review For Sustained Improvement
Under 38 CFR 3.344, evaluations maintained at the same level for five years or more receive stabilization protections. VA must examine the full history and the completeness of the evidence. A less complete examination cannot simply replace the evidence on which the rating was authorized or continued.
For disabilities subject to temporary or episodic improvement, one examination generally does not justify reduction unless the whole record clearly demonstrates sustained improvement. VA must also consider whether improvement will continue under ordinary life conditions. This is not an absolute ban on reduction after the fifth anniversary.
Sources: [1].
Ten Years: Protecting Service Connection
Section 3.957 generally prevents severing service connection after it has been in effect for ten years. Exceptions include fraud and military records clearly establishing that the required service or character of discharge was absent.
This protects the service-connection finding, not necessarily the percentage assigned to it. An evaluation may still be reviewed under the applicable reduction rules. The regulation measures the period from the effective date of service connection to the effective date of the decision severing it, not simply from the day you first read the award letter.
Sources: [1].
Twenty Years: A Protected Evaluation Floor
Section 3.951 protects an evaluation continuously maintained at or above a level for twenty years, except where the rating was based on fraud. The period runs from the evaluation's effective date to the effective date of the reduction.
For an illustration under the current rule, suppose a disability has remained at least 20% since 2000 and increased to 40% in 2018. In 2026, the twenty-year protection can preserve the 20% floor; the newer 40% level has not itself existed for twenty years. The precise history matters more than the age of the latest decision letter.
Sources: [1].
Check Each Evaluation And Proposed Action
Create a timeline showing the effective date of service connection and every change in the individual evaluation. Identify whether VA proposes to reduce a percentage or sever service connection. Applying the wrong protection to the wrong action can obscure the issue you need to address.
These rules also differ from permanent-and-total status and from the ordinary combined-rating calculation. If a proposed reduction arrives, read its response instructions promptly and obtain accredited help. A protected-rating anniversary does not replace responding to a notice, and a calculator cannot decide whether the evidence satisfies a reduction standard.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does ten years protect my percentage forever?
No. The ten-year rule addresses severance of service connection. Percentage protections and reduction requirements are separate.
Does a recent increase restart every protection?
No. An older continuously maintained evaluation floor can have its own history. Examine each level and effective date rather than treating the newest increase as the whole record.
Official Sources
Last verified 2026-10-25. Source publication or legal effective dates are shown separately where available.
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Use this resource to understand published information. VA and the official decision control individual benefits.