What is the difference between denied and rated at 0 percent?
No. A denial means service connection was not established. A 0 percent rating means it was established, and the VA simply does not consider the condition severe enough to pay for right now. The second one is a much better position.
These look similar on a decision letter, and confusing them costs veterans real money.
What each one means
Denied means the VA did not connect the condition to your service. Nothing is established. Pursuing it later means proving service connection from the beginning.
Granted at 0 percent, also called noncompensable, means service connection is established. 1 The VA agrees the condition is related to your service. It has evaluated the current severity as not meeting the criteria for a compensable rating.
Why 0 percent is worth more than it looks
The hardest part of a claim is proving the connection to service. A 0 percent rating means that part is already done and it does not have to be proven again.
That produces three practical differences.
Worsening is an increase claim, not a new claim. If the condition gets worse, the question is only severity. Service connection is not relitigated.
It can support secondary claims. A service-connected condition can serve as the primary condition for a secondary claim, and 38 CFR 3.310 does not require the primary to be compensable. 2 A condition rated at 0 percent can anchor a secondary claim that is compensable.
It may count toward health care priority. Service-connected status, including at 0 percent, factors into VA health care enrollment priority.
The rule almost nobody knows
Under 38 CFR 3.324, a veteran with two or more service-connected disabilities all rated at 0 percent may be assigned a 10 percent rating, where those conditions clearly interfere with normal employability. 3
Two important limits. It is discretionary rather than automatic, and it cannot be combined with any other rating. A veteran who already holds any compensable rating does not qualify. 3
So it applies to a specific situation: several 0 percent ratings, nothing compensable, and a documented effect on the ability to work.
Telling them apart on your letter
Decision letters use consistent language. Denials say service connection is denied. Zero percent grants say service connection is granted with an evaluation of 0 percent, or noncompensable, assigned.
A letter can contain both, granting some conditions at 0 percent while denying others, which is one reason a decision can be read as an overall loss when part of it was actually a win.
Both can be appealed
A 0 percent rating can be appealed on the evaluation, the same as any other rating. Since service connection is already established, that appeal is about severity alone.
An accredited VSO can review a decision at no cost.