Five year rule

[slangpdx]

As posted in these forums:

Five Year Rule) If you have had the same rating for five or more years, the VA cannot reduce your rating unless your condition has improved on a sustained basis. All the medical evidence, not just the reexamination report, must support the conclusion that your improvement is more than temporary.

I was granted 70% SC for mental condition on Feb 18, 2011.  Date of application was January, 2010.  In either case it has now been over 10 years regardless of which date is used so SC status is secure, though rating percentage is not.  I was granted SS disability in 2018 for the same reason as the VA SC rating, on the first try with no appeal.  Does SS determination create an automatic presumption against lowering of rating, or greatly argue for not "improved on a sustained basis?"  I have put off applying for TDIU for a while but believe I should now.  I have an application with the county rep prepared and ready to go.  I am 65, have not worked since May 2016.   The SS determination is included as part of the TDIU application. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by slangpdx

[brokensoldier244th]

Not that Im aware of, though if you were called to an RFE or a proposal to reduce you could definitely submit that information as evidence. We only pull it automatically in the case of Housebound/Aid Attendance and IU claims. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by brokensoldier244th

[slangpdx]

I was not asking about whether it is automatically pulled/ gathered.  I was asking about the fact of the determination having been made by SS.  I am including it as part of the TDIU applicaiton. 

Edited March 1, 2021 by slangpdx

[brokensoldier244th]

SS is taken into consideration as evidence, just like anything else. Its not an automatic anything. 

[Buck52]

1 hour ago, slangpdx said:

As posted in these forums:

Five Year Rule) If you have had the same rating for five or more years, the VA cannot reduce your rating unless your condition has improved on a sustained basis. All the medical evidence, not just the reexamination report, must support the conclusion that your improvement is more than temporary.

I was granted 70% SC for mental condition on Feb 18, 2011.  Date of application was January, 2010.  In either case it has now been over 10 years regardless of which date is used so SC status is secure, though rating percentage is not.  I was granted SS disability in 2018 for the same reason as the VA SC rating, on the first try with no appeal.  Does SS determination create an automatic presumption against lowering of rating, or greatly argue for not "improved on a sustained basis?"  I have put off applying for TDIU for a while but believe I should now.  I have an application with the county rep prepared and ready to go.  I am 65, have not worked since May 2016.   The SS determination is included as part of the TDIU application. 

You should file for the TDIU with P&T regardless if your denied..it starts your EED when you do file for the IU. And if you can't work due to your S.C. Disability  File the IU like Yesterday.  and if you do this would be a good time to file on anything else that can be service connected and a rating given.

[pacmanx1]

What most veterans do not understand is when they file a TDIU request they are basically asking VA to increase their rating decisions. That simply means that if they do not specify what disability(IES) causes them to be unemployable, the VA will try to increase any and or all of their service-connected disabilities. In requesting an INCREASE/TDIU claim it is possible that a veteran can get a proposal to reduce letter but that is not likely and extremely rare. Always keep in mind that evidence is key and even if the VA propose to reduce a rating it does not means that they will actually reduce that rating.