Permanent and total

Permanent and total, often written P&T, describes a VA disability evaluation that is both total and permanent. Total means the impairment is evaluated at the 100 percent level, or is otherwise held to be total. Permanent means the VA has found the impairment reasonably certain to continue throughout the veteran's life. The definitions sit at 38 CFR 3.340.

The finding has one direct administrative consequence. Because the VA does not expect the condition to improve, it generally does not schedule future routine examinations to reevaluate it. The status is also used as a threshold by certain programs the VA administers for dependents and survivors, including Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance and CHAMPVA, each of which sets its own eligibility rules.

Permanent and total is a finding the VA makes on the evidence before it, not a category a veteran selects or applies for on its own. Whether a decision addressed permanence correctly is claims work, handled by the veteran with an accredited representative or VSO, where representation through a recognized VSO is free.