Can You Raise Your SF-95 Sum Certain After You File? What the Law Allows

Last Updated: September 15, 2026

Most veterans who file a Standard Form 95 are told the same thing: the dollar amount they write down becomes a ceiling on what they can ever recover. That is true — but it is not the whole rule, and the part that gets left out matters. Federal law gives claimants two distinct ways to raise that number after filing, and they are not the same thing, do not require the same proof, and are not available at the same stage of a claim.

Can You Ever Increase Your SF-95 Sum Certain After Filing?

Yes, in two different ways. While your claim is still pending with the agency — before it issues a final decision — you can formally amend the sum certain under 28 C.F.R. § 14.2(c). Once you are in federal court, a stricter rule applies: under 28 U.S.C. § 2675(b), a lawsuit cannot seek more than the amount presented to the agency unless the increase rests on newly discovered evidence or intervening facts. Which rule applies depends entirely on where your claim is in the process when the new number becomes necessary.

Why Does the Sum Certain Matter So Much in the First Place?

Every SF-95 requires a "sum certain" — a specific dollar figure for the damages you are claiming. It is not a placeholder or an estimate you can round up later as a matter of course. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2675(b), that number becomes the operative ceiling on your recovery once you sue: "Action under this section shall not be instituted for any sum in excess of the amount of the claim presented to the federal agency," except in the two narrow situations described below. Our Standard Form 95 filing guide covers how to calculate that number correctly the first time. This post covers what happens when circumstances change after you have already filed.

While Your Claim Is Still Pending: The Administrative Amendment Right

Before your agency reaches a final decision — or before you exercise your option to treat six months of silence as a denial under 28 U.S.C. § 2675(a) — the rule is more forgiving than most claimants assume. Under 28 C.F.R. § 14.2(c), "a claim presented in compliance with paragraph (a) of this section may be amended by the claimant at any time prior to final agency action or prior to the exercise of the claimant's option under 28 U.S.C. 2675(a)." The amendment must be in writing and signed by the claimant or an authorized representative — but the regulation does not require you to prove newly discovered evidence or an intervening fact to make it. You can amend because your understanding of the claim's value has simply gotten more complete.

There is a real tradeoff built into that flexibility, though. The same regulation provides that "[u]pon the timely filing of an amendment to a pending claim, the agency shall have six months in which to make a final disposition of the claim as amended," and that your right to treat agency silence as a denial "shall not accrue until six months after the filing of an amendment." In practical terms: raising your sum certain while the claim is pending resets the agency's response clock. If your claim has already been sitting for five months and you amend, you are not five months into a six-month wait — you are back to zero.

Once You Are in Federal Court: The Two Narrow Litigation Exceptions

If your claim has already been denied — or the six-month window has already run and you have filed suit — the administrative amendment right no longer applies. At that point, 28 U.S.C. § 2675(b) controls, and it allows an increase above the presented amount in exactly two circumstances:

1. Newly discovered evidence that was "not reasonably discoverable at the time of presenting the claim to the federal agency," or
2. Intervening facts, established by "allegation and proof," that relate to the amount of the claim.

Both exceptions require something that genuinely could not have been known or did not yet exist when you filed — not simply a more thorough second look at facts you already had. A diagnosis that confirms a condition your doctors had already suspected, or an injury that turns out to be somewhat worse than expected in an ordinary and foreseeable way, is not the same as evidence you could not reasonably have discovered or a fact that had not yet occurred. The statute's language — "not reasonably discoverable" and "intervening" — sets a genuinely high bar, and courts that apply it treat it as a narrow escape hatch, not a routine correction mechanism.

This is exactly why setting the sum certain correctly at the outset matters more than any later fix. Our SF-95 filing guide walks through how an attorney works with medical experts, economists, and life-care planners to build that number before you file — because the law gives you far less room to correct it once your claim has moved into litigation than most claimants expect.

How Do These Two Rules Fit Together?

| Stage of your claim | Governing rule | What it requires | |---|---|---| | Still pending with the agency, before final action or before your § 2675(a) option accrues | 28 C.F.R. § 14.2(c) — administrative amendment | A signed, written amendment. No special showing required — but it resets the agency's six-month clock. | | Claim denied, or six months elapsed and suit filed | 28 U.S.C. § 2675(b) — litigation ceiling | Proof of newly discovered evidence not reasonably discoverable at presentment, or intervening facts relating to the amount. |

The practical lesson is sequencing. If you still have a live administrative claim and your damages picture has changed, amending under § 14.2(c) is the more available path — it just costs you time, since the agency's clock restarts. If you are already in court, that door has closed, and only the two narrow § 2675(b) exceptions remain.

What Should You Do If You Think Your Damages Have Changed?

1. Confirm where your claim actually stands. Has the agency made a final decision, or have six months passed since you filed? That answer determines which rule applies.
2. If your claim is still pending, put the amendment in writing and get it signed — an informal phone call or email describing new damages does not satisfy § 14.2(c).
3. If you are already in litigation, gather what actually changed — the date you learned it, and why it could not reasonably have been known earlier, or why it did not yet exist when you filed.
4. Do not wait to raise it. Whether you are amending administratively or arguing a § 2675(b) exception, delay works against you in both settings.
5. Talk to an attorney before you file anything new. An improperly framed amendment or a weak evidentiary showing can do more harm than good to a claim that might otherwise still be viable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I just increase my SF-95 amount by calling the agency and telling them the new number? No. Under 28 C.F.R. § 14.2(c), an amendment must be in writing and signed by the claimant or an authorized representative. An informal request does not satisfy the regulation.

Does amending my claim extend my overall deadline to sue? Amending resets the agency's six-month period to make a final decision — it does not change the underlying two-year deadline to present your claim in the first place. For that separate deadline, see our FTCA statute of limitations guide.

I'm already in a lawsuit and just learned my injury is worse than my doctors originally thought. Does that count as "newly discovered evidence"? It depends entirely on whether the worsening was reasonably foreseeable at the time you filed. A diagnosis that simply confirms what was already suspected is unlikely to qualify. This is a fact-specific legal question, and it is worth discussing with an attorney before assuming either outcome.

What if I already sued and the six-month agency window is still what applies to my case — can I still amend? If you have not yet filed suit and the agency has not issued a final decision, § 14.2(c)'s amendment right can still apply even if six months have already passed, because your option to sue on agency silence does not force you to sue immediately — it simply becomes available. Once you have filed suit, though, § 2675(b) is the operative rule.

Does this affect the fee cap on my recovery? No — the § 2678 attorney fee caps (20% on an administrative settlement, 25% if suit is filed) apply to whatever amount is ultimately recovered, not to the sum certain itself. They are separate provisions governing different things.

Related Articles

• Standard Form 95 (SF-95): How to File an FTCA Claim → — how to calculate your sum certain correctly before you file
• FTCA Statute of Limitations → — the separate two-year deadline that governs when you must present your claim
• Missed the FTCA's 2-Year Deadline? → — when a missed filing deadline, not a wrong sum certain, might still be excused
• FTCA vs. State Negligence Suits: What Sets Them Apart? → — how FTCA damages analysis differs from a state-court claim
• FTCA Claim Process, Step by Step → — the full administrative and litigation timeline
• Veterans Medical Malpractice & the FTCA → — our national FTCA practice overview

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. All information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Readers should contact their attorney to obtain advice concerning any legal matter.

The author, EJ Archuleta, J.D., is a 13-year federal practice lawyer. He is licensed to practice law in the courts of the State of Texas, is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and is admitted to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. He has helped hundreds of military service members, veterans, and their families receive compensation for injuries and wrongful death caused by the Department of Veterans Affairs.