What a rating decision actually is
A VA rating decision (often called a decision letter) explains what the VA decided on your claim or appeal. It usually states which conditions were granted, denied, or deferred; the evaluation (percentage) for granted disabilities; effective dates; and the combined rating used for pay.
It is not the same as a bank deposit notice. The letter is the legal explanation. The deposit is the money that should follow from that decision — and those two can disagree if dependents, SMC, or TDIU were missed.
Step 1: Find the combined rating
Look for language about your combined evaluation or overall disability rating (for example, “combined evaluation of 70 percent”). That rounded figure (nearest 10%) drives schedular pay before special monthly compensation levels that replace the base rate.
Write that number down. You’ll use it to check pay tables and tools like Am I underpaid?
Step 2: List every condition and percentage
Scan for each disability: granted, increased, decreased, denied, or deferred. Note the percentage and whether service connection was established. Deferred means the VA has not finished that issue yet — it is not a final denial.
- Granted / increased → rating and effective date
- Denied → reason codes and what evidence was missing
- Deferred → what the VA is still waiting on
- Codesheet (if included) → quick table of evaluations
Step 3: Capture effective dates
Effective dates control back pay. A higher rating with a late effective date can pay less retroactively than a smaller increase with an earlier date. Copy each grant’s effective date into a simple list before you estimate back pay.
Step 4: Check for TDIU, SMC, and P&T
Search the letter for Individual Unemployability (TDIU), Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), and Permanent and Total (P&T). These are easy to miss in dense text and can change monthly pay or state benefits even when the schedular combined rating stays the same.
Quick checklist
Combined % · each condition + % · each effective date · deferred/denied list · TDIU yes/no · SMC level or K · P&T yes/no · one-year appeal deadline from the notification date.
Step 5: Decide what to do next
If you disagree with an evaluation or denial, you generally have lanes such as Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, or Board appeal — with deadlines that matter. If the math looks right but the deposit looks low, check dependents and SMC before assuming the rating is wrong.
Paste the letter text into the free decision letter decoder to pull a structured checklist, then use the claim path picker if you need to choose a lane.