“After 10 years, VA cannot lower your rating.”
The 10 year rule protects service connection, meaning VA cannot sever the link between your condition and your service. Your percentage can still be reduced with proper evidence. The percentage itself is not protected until the 20 year mark.
What the regulation actually says
Two different protections get merged into one myth. Under 38 CFR 3.957, after a condition has been service connected for 10 years, VA may not sever service connection except for fraud or proof the person did not have qualifying service. Your condition stays service connected, but the rating percentage attached to it can still move.
The percentage protection arrives at 20 years. Under 38 CFR 3.951(b), a rating that has continued at or above a level for 20 years cannot be reduced below that level except for fraud.
Between those marks, the ordinary reduction rules apply: sustained improvement requirements under 38 CFR 3.344 for ratings held five years or more, and due process notice under 38 CFR 3.105(e) whenever payments would drop.
The exceptions
- Fraud defeats both the 10 and 20 year protections
- A total (100 percent) rating held continuously can also be protected by the sustained improvement requirements of 38 CFR 3.343