Original research
New Claim vs. Increased Rating: How Board Outcomes Differ Once You're Already Connected
Most veterans with a common disability are not fighting for FIRST-TIME service connection, they already have it, and their next Board appeal is usually a fight over the RATING. Across the whole published record, new service-connection claims grant at 37.5% of decided issues at the Board, while increased-rating claims grant at 29.5%, a different fight with different odds.
How this research is built: every Board of Veterans' Appeals decision published by VA is public. RateMyVSO classifies each decided issue by claim type, is it establishing service connection for the first time, or asking for a higher rating on a condition already connected, and tracks the grant rate for each, for the ten most common service-connected disabilities. Updates automatically every week as new decisions publish.
New claim vs. increased rating, by condition
Grant rate is granted of decided (granted+denied) issues at the Board, for the ten most common service-connected disabilities:
| # | Condition | New claim grant rate | Increased rating grant rate | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Tinnitus DC 6260 | 62.4% 64,357 decided |
6.2% 12,532 decided ⓘ |
-56.2 pts |
| #2 | Limitation of flexion, knee DC 5260 | 51.5% 66 decided |
30.6% 2,954 decided |
-20.9 pts |
| #3 | Paralysis of the sciatic nerve DC 8520 | 43.2% 21,025 decided |
36.5% 20,007 decided |
-6.7 pts |
| #4 | Lumbosacral or cervical strain DC 5237 | 46.9% 23,640 decided |
28.2% 26,601 decided |
-18.7 pts |
| #5 | Posttraumatic stress disorder DC 9411 | 44.4% 74,013 decided |
47.1% 71,958 decided |
+2.7 pts |
| #6 | Hearing loss DC 6100 | 38.5% 93,946 decided |
8.9% 40,572 decided |
-29.6 pts |
| #7 | Limitation of motion of the arm DC 5201 | 61.4% 1,216 decided |
33.3% 2,709 decided |
-28.1 pts |
| #8 | Scars, burns (2nd degree) DC 7805 | 44.3% 7,097 decided |
22% 26,635 decided |
-22.3 pts |
| #9 | Migraine DC 8100 | 49.8% 21,076 decided |
47.6% 17,520 decided |
-2.2 pts |
| #10 | Limitation of motion of the ankle DC 5271 | 56.2% 1,891 decided |
41.2% 3,792 decided |
-15 pts |
- DC 6260 (tinnitus) carries a single 10% rating with no higher schedular level, so an increased-rating claim has essentially nowhere to go once already service-connected.
Methodology
Issue-level aggregates over published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions for the ten most common service-connected disabilities (see The Appeal Gap for the full roster and sourcing). Claim type is the Board's own classification of each decided issue (new service connection vs. increased rating); grant rate is granted divided by granted-plus-denied. Requires at least 20 decided issues per claim type per condition. This report compares OUTCOME only, not the specific percentage a rating moved to or from, that data sits split across two tables at different grains in our schema and cannot be reliably bridged (see the Data Source Map). Figures refresh weekly as new decisions publish.
Cite this research
RateMyVSO. (September 2026). New Claim vs. Increased Rating: Board of Veterans' Appeals Grant Rates for the Ten Most Common Service-Connected Disabilities. https://ratemyvso.net/dc/increased-rating-report
Free to cite and link with attribution. Figures derived from published Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions.
Educational and encyclopedic only, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any individual claim. For help with a claim, find a VA-accredited representative.