VA Math // Error Check
Five Common VA Math Mistakes
Bad VA math usually shows up wearing one of five uniforms: addition, early rounding, broken rating order, a fake bilateral bonus, or the right calculation aimed at the wrong benefit question.
01 // Sequence errors
Regular addition has left the building.
Adding printed ratings is fast, intuitive, and wrong. Separate evaluations go through the combined-ratings table. With three or more ratings, carry the exact combined value forward and convert to a multiple of 10 only after every rating is included.
- Mistake 1: Adding the printed ratings.
- Mistake 2: Rounding the first pair before combining the next rating.
- Mistake 3: Entering ratings without preserving the highest-to-lowest order.
02 // Bilateral errors
Left plus right does not automatically unlock bonus points.
The bilateral factor requires compensable disability affecting paired extremities or paired skeletal muscles. Apply it to the qualifying group at the correct point in the sequence and remember the current most-favorable exception.
- Confirm each side is compensable.
- Confirm the disabilities fit the paired-extremity rule.
- Compare the exception path when the factor produces a worse outcome.
03 // Category errors
The right math can still answer the wrong question.
A combined schedular rating is not the same thing as a monthly payment estimate, an effective-date analysis, TDIU eligibility, or entitlement to special monthly compensation.
Use the correct tool for the question and verify the official decision when the estimate affects a filing or review strategy.
Source rack
Trust, but verify. Mostly verify.
These official sources carry the factual load. Rules and public guidance change; screenshots and confident strangers do not receive automatic grandfather status.