Common C&P Exam Mistakes That Cost Veterans Their Rating

The C&P exam is your opportunity to show the VA how your service-connected conditions actually affect your life. Unfortunately, many veterans unknowingly sabotage their own exams through preventable mistakes that lead to lower ratings, denials, or months of appeals.

These are not obscure pitfalls. They are patterns that repeat thousands of times a year because veterans are not told what to avoid. Understanding each mistake and how to prevent it can be the difference between an accurate rating and being significantly underrated for conditions that genuinely limit your daily life.

Mistake 1: Minimizing Your Symptoms

This is the most common and most damaging mistake veterans make. Years of military training teach you to push through pain, never complain, and project strength. Those instincts will hurt you in a C&P exam.

When you tell the examiner "I'm doing okay" or "it's not that bad," they write exactly that in your report. The examiner does not know about the three hours you spent in bed before the appointment, the panic attack in the parking lot, or the activities you have given up. They can only document what you tell them and what they observe.

What this looks like in practice

• Wrong: "My knee hurts sometimes, but I can still walk on it."
• Right: "My knee pain is constant at a 5 out of 10, increasing to 8 after walking more than two blocks. The pain is sharp and prevents me from standing for more than 15 minutes. I have not been able to run or play with my children in three years."

How to avoid it

• Prepare specific examples of limitations before the exam
• Describe symptoms on your worst days, not your best days
• Use concrete numbers: pain levels on a 1-10 scale, how many minutes before pain starts, how many times per week symptoms occur
• Bring written notes so you do not fall back on "I'm fine" out of habit

Mistake 2: Not Describing Worst-Day Symptoms

VA disability ratings for many conditions are based on the severity of symptoms during flare-ups and exacerbations, not your baseline on a good day. Rating criteria specifically reference whether symptoms are "occasional," "frequent," or "constant," and physical conditions are rated based on limitations during flare-ups.

If you only describe how you feel on an average day, the examiner may assign a lower rating tier than your condition warrants.

The right approach

Clearly separate your baseline from your worst days:

• Baseline: "On a typical day, my lower back pain is around 4 out of 10, and I can do light activities with frequent breaks."
• Flare-ups: "Three to four times per month, I experience severe flare-ups where pain reaches 8 to 10 out of 10. During these episodes, which last 2 to 4 days, I am essentially bedridden. Even bending to tie my shoes causes excruciating pain."
• Triggers: "These flare-ups are triggered by grocery shopping, yard work, or sitting for more than 30 minutes."

Mistake 3: Forgetting to Mention All Claimed Conditions

Veterans sometimes focus so heavily on their primary condition that they forget to discuss other claimed conditions, especially when multiple conditions are evaluated in a single appointment.

This happens because exam stress causes memory lapses, the examiner focuses on one condition and does not ask about others, or the veteran assumes the examiner already knows everything.

If a claimed condition is not discussed and examined, the examiner cannot provide an opinion about it. This may result in that condition being denied or a second exam being required, adding months of delay.

How to prevent it

• Bring a written list of all conditions from your appointment letter
• Check off each condition as it is discussed
• At the end of the exam, ask: "Have we covered all the conditions on my appointment letter?"
• If a condition was not examined, politely point it out: "I don't think we discussed my tinnitus yet."

Mistake 4: Not Bringing Documentation

Many veterans assume the examiner has access to their complete medical history. In reality, examiners often work with incomplete information. They may receive only a summary of your claim and selected records. Recent private medical records, emergency room visits, specialist reports, and diagnostic imaging results may not be in the examiner's file.

Without supporting documentation, the exam relies solely on what you can verbally communicate under stress and what the examiner observes in a short window. Bring copies of:

• Recent medical records from all providers
• Test results and diagnostic imaging reports
• Complete medication list with dosages
• Buddy statements from people who witness your symptoms
• Your written personal impact statement
• Photos documenting visible conditions

Mistake 5: Pushing Through Pain During Physical Tests

During range of motion testing for joint and spine conditions, some veterans push through pain to complete the full movement. This is a critical error driven by military conditioning.

VA ratings for joint conditions are based on functional range of motion, meaning the range before pain, fatigue, or weakness limits further movement. If you can physically bend your knee to 90 degrees but pain starts at 60 degrees, the examiner should document 60 degrees as your functional range. But if you push through pain to reach 90 degrees without saying anything, they will document 90 degrees with no pain limitation.

What to do instead

• Move naturally as you would on a typical day
• Stop immediately when you feel pain and tell the examiner
• Say things like: "I can feel sharp pain starting at this point" or "If I go further, the pain becomes severe and lasts for hours"
• Do not push beyond your pain-limited range to prove you can

Mistake 6: Being Combative or Defensive

Some veterans enter the exam expecting the examiner to be adversarial. A hostile or argumentative attitude can backfire. The examiner does not make rating decisions. They document findings and provide a medical opinion. Arguing with them wastes time that should be spent documenting your conditions.

Be polite and professional. Answer questions thoroughly. If you do not understand a question, ask for clarification respectfully. Save complaints about the process for your VSO or written statements after the exam.

Mistake 7: Being Too Casual During Mental Health Exams

On the opposite end, some veterans are so friendly and jovial during mental health exams that they inadvertently undermine their claims. A veteran claiming severe PTSD who jokes throughout the exam, shows no distress, and makes light of traumatic experiences gives the examiner observable evidence that contradicts their claimed symptoms.

The examiner may note: "Veteran was pleasant and at ease throughout the exam. No signs of distress or hypervigilance observed." This does not mean you need to perform distress. But do not suppress genuine emotions or mask how discussing trauma actually makes you feel. Be authentic.

Mistake 8: Missing Your Appointment

Missing a C&P exam or arriving very late can result in automatic denial of your claim, months of additional delay, and a negative presumption about the seriousness of your disability. The VA typically allows only one reschedule without penalty.

If you absolutely cannot attend, contact the facility immediately. Document the reason. Request immediate rescheduling. Follow up in writing.

Prevention is straightforward: set multiple calendar reminders, plan your route in advance, arrange backup transportation, and treat this as the most important appointment of the year.

Mistake 9: Not Discussing Functional Impact

Veterans often describe symptoms without explaining how those symptoms affect their actual daily life. Disability ratings are fundamentally about functional impairment, not just the presence of symptoms.

Do not just say "I have knee pain." Explain the real-world consequences:

• "I can no longer work jobs that require standing, which eliminated my career in construction."
• "I cannot walk more than one block without severe pain, so I need a mobility scooter to go grocery shopping."
• "I cannot play with my children because I cannot kneel, squat, or climb stairs."

For mental health claims, connect symptoms to concrete impacts: "My PTSD hypervigilance prevents me from eating in restaurants. My depression has caused me to be fired from three jobs in two years due to missed work."

Mistake 10: Stopping Treatment Before the Exam

Some veterans stop taking medications before their exam, thinking they need to show the examiner how bad symptoms are without treatment. This is dangerous and counterproductive.

Stopping medications can be medically dangerous, creates inconsistency with your medical records, and may be viewed negatively as treatment non-compliance. The VA rates your condition as it currently exists with treatment, not what it might be without it.

Instead, take all medications as prescribed and explain to the examiner: "I take this medication daily, which reduces my pain from an 8 to a 5, but I still cannot perform many activities." This shows that even with treatment, your condition significantly limits you.

How the Benefits Finder Helps

Your C&P exam directly shapes your disability rating, and your rating determines which benefits you qualify for. Understanding what is at stake at different rating levels can motivate you to prepare thoroughly.

Use the Veterans Benefits Finder to see the full range of federal and state benefits available at your current or expected rating.