DVA impairment points calculator

Why the questions look like this

The Guide asks for things like “loss of about one-quarter of the normal range of movement”, which almost nobody can report about themselves without being measured. Our clinical intake asks the questions veterans can answer — how many minutes before the pain starts, how far you get before you stop, what your pain sits at when you are resting, whether it wakes you — and the assessor converts those into the Guide's criteria.

This tool does the same conversion. Each answer shows the table and rating it produced, so you can check the working against the Guide rather than take it on trust. If you have had your range of movement formally measured, use those options instead; they are the Guide's own wording.

What this covers, and what it does not

It covers the chapters most veterans are actually assessed under and that can be answered without equipment: mental health (Chapter 4, all eight tables), cervical and thoracolumbar spine, upper limbs, lower limbs, resting joint pain (Chapter 3) and hypertension (Chapter 2.1).

It does not cover hearing and tinnitus (which need an audiogram), vision, cardiorespiratory conditions (which need METs and spirometry), or the gastrointestinal, renal, skin, endocrine and neurological chapters. If those apply to you, your real figure will be higher than this one.

The arithmetic it uses

• Mental health is added, not combined. Tables 4.1 and 4.2 in full, plus the three highest of 4.3–4.8. The Guide expressly excludes the Combined Values Chart from this step.
• Only the worst joint counts on each side, and that is then compared with the whole-limb or walking table — the higher of the two is used.
• Both lower limbs are one unit. Two bad knees produce one rating.
• Age adjustment (Table 3.6.1) is applied to Tables 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 only — never to the walking table, resting joint pain, or anything in Chapter 4.
• Everything is then combined through the Combined Values Chart: each successive rating applies only to the portion of the whole person still remaining, which is why 60 and 30 make 72 rather than 90.

Why your real number is probably different

Because ratings depend on measured clinical findings, not on self-assessment. The Guide asks for active range of movement estimated against normal values, and for a structured judgement of function. What this tool gives you is an informed figure — far better than a guess, and enough to tell you whether an offer is in the right region — but it is not an assessment.

It is also worth saying plainly: the most common reason a veteran is underpaid is not a miscalculation, it is too few accepted conditions. Every accepted condition lifts the combined total. Our sequelae mapper and presumptive liability checker both exist to find the ones missing from a file.

Other free tools

Payout calculator · Presumptive liability checker · SoP Finder · SoP Factor Mapper · What else can I claim? · All tools

Criteria reproduced from the Guide to Determining Impairment and Compensation 2026 (F2026L00595). Maximum weekly benefit $447.39, DVA rate at 1 July 2026. General information only, and an estimate only — DVA determines impairment and what is payable. Confirm your position with DVA on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372).