Your DVA Impairment Assessment: What Happens and How to Prepare

Most veterans picture their permanent impairment assessment as a meeting with a DVA doctor who decides what they get. It rarely works that way. Under the MRCA, the medical part is usually done by a doctor you nominate, and your impairment points are worked out afterwards by DVA from what that doctor records. Knowing who does what is the first step to preparing properly.

This is Part 2 of our five-part DVA assessment series. Part 1 covered whether your condition is ready to be assessed. This part covers the assessment itself.

Who assesses your impairment

When DVA is ready to assess your permanent impairment, it sends a Request for Information to the doctor you nominate, usually your treating GP or specialist. The request includes a letter, the forms DVA needs completed for your accepted conditions, and a reference number so the doctor can bill DVA for the work.

Your doctor's job is to record how each accepted condition affects you: the clinical findings, and the effect on your day-to-day function. DVA's claims assessor then uses that information to work out your rating under GARP M, the Guide to Determining Impairment and Compensation. Your doctor does not decide your points. DVA does, from what your doctor writes down.

That has a practical consequence. Anything your doctor does not record is not in front of the person calculating your rating.

Choosing the doctor

Because you nominate the doctor, think about who knows your conditions best. A GP or specialist who has treated you over time, and has your history in their notes, is usually better placed than someone seeing you for the first time. If one specialist manages a particular condition, they may be the right person for that condition.

What your doctor is asked to record

The forms focus on function, not only diagnosis. For a joint, that means things like how far you can walk, whether you can kneel or manage stairs, and what the joint shows on examination. For hearing, it is your measured hearing loss. For a mental health condition, the assessment uses GARP M's tables for emotional and behavioural function, and DVA tells doctors to leave out the effects of any non-psychiatric conditions, which are assessed separately.

How conditions that come and go are handled

Many service-related conditions have good days and bad days. Back pain, mental health conditions, migraine and many joint conditions come and go. DVA's guidance to doctors is to describe your average level of impairment for a condition that fluctuates, not your best day and not your worst.

An average is only accurate if your doctor knows what the bad days look like. If you walk in on a good day and say you are fine, the average your doctor records will be built on good days. Tell them how often flare-ups happen, how long they last, and what you cannot do while they last.

How to prepare

• List every accepted condition, and any still waiting on a decision, so none is missed on the day.
• For each one, write down what you can no longer do, or can only do with pain, help or a long rest afterwards. Think about work, the house, getting around, sleep, family life and the things you used to do for enjoyment.
• Keep a short diary for a few weeks beforehand: each flare-up, how long it lasted and what it stopped you doing. It turns 'it comes and goes' into something your doctor can record as an average.
• Write down the treatments you have tried, what helped, what did not, and anything you were advised against.
• Take your notes with you and give your doctor a copy, so the detail does not depend on your memory in a short appointment.

Be accurate, not dramatic. The aim is for the record to match your real life. Overstating damages your credibility with DVA just as surely as understating lowers your rating.

What happens after the appointment

Once DVA has the completed forms, its assessor combines the ratings for your conditions into one overall rating using GARP M's combined values chart, sets your lifestyle rating, and looks both up in GARP M's compensation tables. The lifestyle rating is where many veterans lose ground without noticing, and it is the subject of Part 3.

Assessment is not a one-off. DVA's own guidance to doctors makes the point that a veteran whose condition deteriorates can ask to be reassessed. We cover that in Part 5.

Want to know your numbers before DVA does?

Most veterans leave the appointment with no idea what it will mean in points or dollars, then wait months for the letter to find out. That is the gap DVA Assessment Prep is built for. You go through full questionnaires on each of your accepted conditions, and any still being decided, scored against the same GARP M tables DVA itself uses, so you can see where your conditions are likely to sit before the assessment happens.

An advocate then checks your answers against your claim history and the assessment guides, and gives you written findings: conditions left out, impacts under-reported, and anything not yet claimed. That is exactly the detail worth taking to your doctor. Our free PI calculator can then turn points into an estimate of the weekly amount and lump sum at your age.

It is an estimate, not a decision. DVA and its assessors set your rating, and nobody can honestly guarantee a result. But walking in knowing your numbers beats finding them out from the letter.

Frequently asked questions

Who does the DVA permanent impairment assessment?

Usually a doctor you nominate, such as your treating GP or specialist. DVA sends them a Request for Information with the forms to complete for your accepted conditions.

Does my doctor decide my impairment points?

No. Your doctor records the clinical findings and how your conditions affect your day-to-day function. DVA's claims assessor uses that to work out your rating under GARP M.

What should I take to my DVA impairment assessment?

A list of your accepted conditions, written notes on what each one stops you doing, a diary of recent flare-ups, and a list of the treatments you have tried. Give your doctor a copy so nothing depends on memory.

How are conditions that come and go assessed?

DVA asks doctors to describe your average level of impairment for a fluctuating condition. Make sure your doctor hears about the bad days, how often they come and how long they last, so the average is accurate.

Can I find out my impairment points before my DVA assessment?

You can get an estimate. DVA Assessment Prep scores each of your conditions against the same GARP M tables DVA uses, and an advocate reviews the result and sets out what is missing or under-reported. Only DVA sets your actual rating.