Claims and decisions

How to get your VA rating code sheet

Your code sheet is the short summary of what VA actually decided — the condition, the code, the percentage, the date the money starts. Here is how I get mine, and what I do when it is not in the envelope.

← Back to vsgsolutions.org Check your claim status on VA.gov
Veterans Crisis Line — dial 988, then press 1. Text 838255. Chat at veteranscrisisline.net. TTY 711 then 988, or 1-800-799-4889. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You do not have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to connect. A rating decision on a mental health condition can hit hard, whatever the number says. Call before you sit with it alone.
Plain language first. A rating decision is VA's written answer on your claim. A code sheet is the summary page that goes with it — each condition VA rated, the number code VA files it under, the percentage, and the date that percentage takes effect. It is the page you need before you argue with anything, because it is the page that says what VA thinks it already decided. I am not VA. Everything below points you at VA's own pages.
Before you start

Two things that stop people cold

Know these before you spend an hour clicking.

  • Not every letter is online. VA posts decision letters for "certain types of claims, decision reviews, and appeals" — not all of them. If yours is not there, you still have a decision. You request the paper copy. See the panel on requesting it.
  • Nothing shows up until the claim is closed. If your claim status is still open, the decision letter is not available yet.
Signing in. VA's own words: "You can no longer use a My HealtheVet user ID and password or a DS Logon username and password to sign in to VA.gov, VA mobile apps, or other VA online services." VA moved to two sign-in options in 2025 — Login.gov and ID.me. If those are the two you have never used, both are free to set up: va.gov/resources/creating-an-account-for-vagov.
★ Closed claim, Login.gov or ID.me.
The path

Pulling the letter off VA.gov

  1. Go to va.gov and sign in.
  2. From the top menu choose VA benefits and health care, then Disability, then Check your claim, decision review, or appeal status. That page is va.gov/claim-or-appeal-status if you would rather type it straight in.
  3. You will see your claims, decision reviews and appeals listed. Find the closed one and select View details.
  4. Select Get your claim letters.
  5. Your letters are listed newest first. Select the one you need and it downloads as a PDF. There is no separate download screen.
Save that PDF somewhere you will find it in five years, and put a copy where your Family can get to it.
★ Details, then claim letters.
When it is not there

Requesting the code sheet

VA does not promise that the code sheet rides along with the letter you download. If it is not in that PDF, you are not out of options — you ask for it.

  • Call the VA benefits hotline, 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET. Ask for your rating decision code sheet.
  • Or file the written request. VA Form 20-10206, "Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act (PA) Request" — va.gov/forms/20-10206. Ask for the rating decision code sheet from your claims file.
  • Ask for the whole file while you are at it. That same form gets you the rating decision narrative and the evidence behind it. The code sheet shows you the result. The narrative shows you why VA landed on that percentage — which is what you need if you intend to challenge it.
The written request, step by step.
  1. Sign in to VA.gov with Login.gov or ID.me, then open Request Personal Records Online (VA Form 20-10206).
  2. Put your name and, if you know it, your VA file number.
  3. In the box that asks what records you want, be specific. Write something like: "A copy of my rating decision code sheet and rating decision narrative, and all Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam reports and Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQs) in my claims file."
  4. Submit it. Online is one way; mail and fax are in the panel below.
No computer, no online account, no problem. Everything on this page can be done by phone at 800-827-1000 or in person at a VA regional office. You do not need an internet connection to get your own records.
★ Ask by phone. Ask in writing. Ask in person.
Your exam results

Getting your C&P exam report and DBQs

Same form, same route — you just ask for the exam by name.

  • You do not get the results at the exam. VA says you "can't get the results at your exam or directly from the provider." You request a copy of the final exam report afterward, using VA Form 20-10206 — online, by mail, or in person at a VA regional office. va.gov/resources/va-claim-exam
  • Be specific. Ask for "all C&P exam reports and DBQs" tied to your claim. If you want everything VA used to decide you, ask for your complete claims file (your C-file).
  • A second way in. VA's FOIA handbook says Privacy Act requests for a C-file, service records and C&P exams can also go through VA's QuickSubmit tool. You sign in with ID.me or Login.gov (or a CAC or VA PIV card). QuickSubmit sign-in
Mail it to:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Evidence Intake Center
PO Box 4444
Janesville, WI 53547-4444

Or fax it, toll free: (844) 531-7818
VA's form instructions say to send Privacy Act requests to this center, and that it handles claims files, service treatment records, DD Form 214 and C&P exams. VA's own compensation mailing page lists the same P.O. box and fax number (it calls the office the Claims Intake Center).
Check the address you copy. Some social-media posts list a different P.O. box for these requests. Use the one on VA's own form and pages above.
How long? Under the federal FOIA law, an agency must decide on a request within 20 business days (weekends and holidays not counted). It can extend that by up to 10 more working days when there are unusual circumstances, such as records held in several places. Getting the records themselves can take longer. If you need them sooner, call 800-827-1000 and ask about your exam.
★ Ask for the exam by name.
Reading it

What the numbers mean

  • Diagnostic code — the number VA files a condition under in its rating schedule. Example: diagnostic code 9411 is posttraumatic stress disorder, which VA rates at 0, 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100 percent. That is an example, not your number.
  • Evaluation — the percentage assigned to that condition.
  • Effective date — the date that percentage starts. This is the money column. Every month the date is wrong is a month of pay you did not get.
  • Combined evaluation — your overall percentage.
Your ratings do not add up. 50 plus 30 is not 80. VA combines percentages under a table in its own rules (38 CFR 4.25), and the second rating only applies to what is left of you after the first. This is the number one reason a veteran reads his code sheet and thinks VA made a math error when VA did not. Check the combined total against that table before you file anything over it.
One term to forget: "rating code." It is not a VA term and there is no such field. VA says diagnostic code. Use their word and you will find the thing you are looking for.
★ The effective date is the money.

diagnostic code 9411

Page reviewed September 2026.001010303050507070100100
That is an example, not your number.VA
The clocks

Deadlines that start on the date of your letter

Read the code sheet, find an error, then sit on it, and you can lose the right to argue it. The clocks run off the date printed on the decision, and most are one year.

The deadline for each review lane, the contested-claim rule and the court deadline are all laid out at vsgsolutions.org/appeal-a-va-decision. VA's own pages: Higher-Level Review · Supplemental Claim · Board Appeal.

A wrong effective date is challengeable the same way as a wrong percentage — Higher-Level Review or Supplemental Claim, same clocks. Do not let it ride because the percentage looks right.
★ One year. Write it on the folder.
Help reading it

Free help exists. Use it first.

An accredited representative from a Veterans Service Organization will read your code sheet with you and file for you at no charge. The fee rules for accredited attorneys and claims agents are explained at vsgsolutions.org/appeal-a-va-decision.

You can ask for an accredited representative at any VA regional office, or start by calling 800-827-1000. There is no shame in handing the paperwork to somebody who reads it every day.
★ Free first. Always ask what it costs.
Where to call and where to go

Numbers and links, in one place

★ Phone, fax, mail, or online. Your choice.

Sources (VA's own pages)