Rating Protections Visual Guide Library

26 printable charts laying out what actually protects a VA disability rating: the five, ten, and twenty-year clocks, the reduction and severance procedures, TDIU and P&T protection, and the limits on future reexaminations. Each chart is built directly from 38 CFR 3.105, 3.327, 3.343, 3.344, 3.951, and 3.957, and from 38 U.S.C. 110 and 1159.

All 26 charts are static legal-reference guides, not research charts built from Board decision data. They do not change week to week; they change only when the underlying regulation does.

All 26 visual guides

One-page VA rating protections guide separating the five-year stabilization rule, ten-year service-connection protection, twenty-year evaluation floor, schedule-change protection, total ratings, P&T, static status, and proposal deadlines. — **1. VA Rating Protections in One Page** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections after the introduction

Five, ten, and twenty-year VA protection map explaining what each clock protects, how each period is measured, and the stated exceptions. — **2. Five, Ten, and Twenty-Year VA Rating Protection Map** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections in the time-based protections section

Comparison matrix showing how five-year, ten-year, twenty-year, static, total schedular, TDIU, and P&T rules affect service connection, evaluation level, periodic examinations, and payment procedure. — **3. What Each VA Rating Protection Actually Protects** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/protect-your-rating after the protection overview

Worksheet for recording service-connection, evaluation, P&T, static-status, proposal, and final-action dates and calculating separate protection clocks. — **4. VA Rating Protection Timeline and Effective-Date Worksheet** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections near the effective-date explanation

Comparison of P&T, static status, a 100 percent schedular rating, and time-protected ratings, including what each label does and does not establish. — **5. P&T, Static, 100 Percent, and Protected VA Ratings Compared** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/protect-your-rating near the P&T section

Five-year stabilization guide covering the evaluation-history test, full-record review, comparable examinations, sustained improvement, and doubtful stabilized-rating cases. — **6. The Five-Year VA Rating Stabilization Rule** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections in the five-year section

Sustained-improvement test comparing the prior disability picture, claimed improvement, examination quality, and durability under ordinary conditions of life. — **7. The VA Sustained Improvement Test** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions in the sustained-improvement section

Ordinary-conditions guide comparing improvement during rest or a restrictive regimen with functioning during daily activity and work. — **8. VA Rating Reductions and Ordinary Conditions of Life** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions in the ordinary-conditions section

Guide to stabilized episodic conditions and the rule against relying on one examination unless all evidence clearly warrants sustained improvement. — **9. Episodic Conditions and the One-Examination Safeguard** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions in the episodic-conditions section

Rating reduction flowchart from review trigger through payment-impact analysis, proposal, hearing, evidence response, final action, and decision review. — **10. VA Rating Reduction Process Flowchart** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions after the process introduction

Timeline separating the 30-day predetermination-hearing request, 60-day evidence response, final-action notice, and later reduction effective-date period. — **11. VA Proposed Reduction 60-Day and 30-Day Timeline** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/proposed-and-grant after the notice-window introduction

Evidence guide for answering a proposed reduction with prior decisions, codesheets, examinations, longitudinal treatment, lay evidence, work records, and medical comparison. — **12. Evidence to Answer a Proposed VA Rating Reduction** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions in the response-evidence section

Side-by-side guide distinguishing a proposed reduction from final rating action and mapping the correct response to each document. — **13. VA Proposal Versus Final Rating Reduction** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/proposed-and-grant in the proposal-versus-final section

Post-reduction guide for auditing the final decision, choosing a review lane, and tracking payment and restoration evidence. — **14. What to Do After a Final VA Rating Reduction** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-reductions after the final-reduction section

Ten-year service-connection protection guide explaining the protected status, percentage boundary, clock calculation, fraud exception, and service-eligibility exception. — **15. Ten-Year VA Service-Connection Protection** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections in the ten-year section

Twenty-year evaluation-floor guide showing continuous-rating requirements, layered protection clocks after increases, and the fraud exception. — **16. Twenty-Year VA Evaluation Floor** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections in the twenty-year section

Comparison of severance and reduction, including the different Government burdens, codesheet results, payment effects, and response focus. — **17. VA Severance Versus Rating Reduction** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/protect-your-rating near the severance discussion

Service-connection severance process from alleged original error through proposal, evidence response, hearing request, final action, and the ten-year protection check. — **18. VA Service-Connection Severance Process** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/clear-and-unmistakable-error in the severance-jurisdiction section

Guide distinguishing the ten-year fraud and service-eligibility exceptions from the twenty-year fraud exception. — **19. Fraud and Service-Eligibility Exceptions to VA Rating Protections** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections after the protection exceptions

Total schedular rating protection guide explaining material improvement, full-record review, ordinary conditions of life, and the boundary between schedular total ratings and TDIU. — **20. Total Schedular VA Rating Protection** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-protections in the 100 percent section

TDIU reduction guide covering actual employability, clear and convincing evidence, twelve consecutive months of work, rehabilitation, education, and therapeutic activity. — **21. TDIU Reduction Protection** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/tdiu in the reduction-protection section

P&T guide explaining totality, permanence, future-exam status, and why P&T does not replace ten-year or twenty-year protection. — **22. P&T and No-Future-Exam Status** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/protect-your-rating in the P&T section

Static-condition and reexamination guide listing the six no-periodic-exam categories and the limits of those categories. — **23. Static Conditions and VA Reexaminations** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/future-reexaminations in the prohibited-periodic-exam section

Future reexamination decision tree covering schedule-required review, periodic examinations, material change, claim-related exams, section 3.327 limits, and missed-exam response. — **24. VA Future Reexamination Decision Tree** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/future-reexaminations after the process introduction

Rating-increase guide replacing poking-the-bear myths with diagnostic-code review, protection dates, current evidence, examination scope, and readiness checks. — **25. Filing for a VA Rating Increase Without the Myths** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/rating-increase-guide before the filing-strategy section

Rating protection file checklist covering decisions, codesheet, protection dates, total-rating basis, medical and functional evidence, proposal deadlines, and submission proof. — **26. VA Rating Protection File Checklist** PNG PDF Seen on /dc/protect-your-rating near the end-of-guide checklist

How to read these charts. These 26 guides are static legal-reference material, not statistics drawn from BVA decisions. They explain what the regulations say a protection covers, the exceptions that apply to it, and the deadlines involved. They do not predict whether any individual rating will be reduced, severed, or increased.