Claim Raven explanation
What this means
When a person has two or more compensable service-connected disabilities, VA combines their evaluations under the rating schedule’s table and rules rather than adding the percentages directly.
A 50 percent rating and a 30 percent rating do not ordinarily equal 80 percent under VA math. The second percentage applies to the remaining efficiency after the first evaluation, and the combined value follows the table and rounding rules.
How this helps your claim
This section points to the combined-ratings method in the Schedule for Rating Disabilities. It also addresses combining evaluations for pension purposes. The result reflects the combined effect under VA’s formula and is then converted under the applicable rounding rule.
What to check in your records
List every evaluation and effective date, then reproduce VA’s combination in the same order and under the same table used in the decision.
- Copy each individual percentage from the rating decision and note whether it is service connected.
- Check for paired extremities or other facts that may invoke a separate rating-schedule rule before the final combination.
- Compare the combined evaluation and effective date shown on the code sheet or award notice with your calculation.
Check the inputs before the arithmetic
Most apparent combined-rating errors begin with an omitted disability, wrong percentage, wrong effective date, or missed bilateral-factor issue. Verify those inputs before focusing on the final number.
Build one calculation for each period in which the individual ratings changed. A correct current total does not prove that an earlier staged period was also calculated correctly.
Why does VA not simply add my ratings?
VA uses the combined-ratings table referenced by this section. Each additional evaluation is applied within that formula, so ordinary addition usually overstates the combined result.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.323
eCFR snapshot: 2026-09-17. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.323 Combined ratings.
(a) Compensation —
(1) Same type of service. When there are two or more service-connected compensable disabilities a combined evaluation will be made following the tables and rules prescribed in the 1945 Schedule for Rating Disabilities.
(2) Wartime and peacetime service. Evaluation of wartime and peacetime service-connected compensable disabilities will be combined to provide for the payment of wartime rates of compensation. (38 U.S.C. 1157) Effective July 1, 1973, it is immaterial whether the disabilities are wartime or peacetime service-connected since all disabilities are compensable under 38 U.S.C. 1114 and 1115 on and after that date.
(b) Pension —
(1) Nonservice-connected disabilities. Evaluation of two or more nonservice-connected disabilities not the result of the veteran's own willful misconduct will be combined as provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
(2) Service-connected and nonservice-connected disabilities. Evaluations for service-connected disabilities may be combined with evaluations for disabilities not shown to be service connected and not the result of the veteran's own willful misconduct.
Cross References:
“Willful misconduct.” See § 3.1(n). Pension. See § 3.3. Line of duty and misconduct. See § 3.301. Service connection for mental unsoundness in suicide. See § 3.302.
[26 FR 1583, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 38 FR 21923, Aug. 14, 1973; 61 FR 20438, May 7, 1996]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 4.25: VA combined ratings: how the math works
- 38 CFR § 4.26: The bilateral factor in VA combined ratings
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