Terms of Service

1. Who we are and what the Service is

Zero Dark Claims LLC is a Delaware-registered limited liability company operating from San Diego, California, that publishes self-help software for Veterans preparing their own materials for VA benefit claims. The Service includes, among other things, a VA Letter Builder, a C-File Organizer, and a VA Assistant knowledge base.

The Service is software that you operate. It structures the information you enter, generates drafts in your own first-person voice, and presents general educational information about VA programs. It does not evaluate your claim, does not recommend a filing strategy, does not communicate with the VA on your behalf, and does not provide legal, medical, or financial advice.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to use the Service. By using the Service you represent that you meet this requirement. The Service is intended for use by U.S. military Veterans, currently serving service members, and their family members or authorized helpers, but is available to any lawful user.

3. What Zero Dark Claims is not

To make our role unmistakably clear:

• Zero Dark Claims LLC is not a VA-accredited representative under 38 C.F.R. § 14.629 or otherwise.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC is not a law firm, not an attorney, and not a claims agent, and does not provide legal services.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC is not a Veterans Service Organization and is not affiliated with any VSO.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any federal, state, or local government agency.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC does not file claims for you, does not communicate with VA on your behalf, and does not represent you in any VA proceeding.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC does not accept fees for the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a claim before the VA. Subscription fees for the Service are for access to the software tools only; they are unrelated to any claim outcome, back pay, or benefits.
• Zero Dark Claims LLC does not guarantee any claim will be granted, any rating percentage, or any benefit outcome. No software or person can do that.

4. Your responsibilities

By using the Service, you agree that:

• You are the author of any letter, statement, or summary the Service helps you produce, and you are responsible for reviewing, editing, signing, and (if you choose) submitting those materials.
• You will review any draft you produce with a VA-accredited VSO, claims agent, or VA-accredited attorney — and, for medical content, with your own doctor or mental health professional — before submitting it to VA.
• You will not use the Service to file, submit, or otherwise transmit content on behalf of another person for a fee, other than as a VA-accredited representative permitted to do so under 38 C.F.R. § 14.629 acting within the scope of your own accreditation.
• You will not submit any content that is unlawful, false, fraudulent, or that you do not have the right to submit.
• You will not attempt to reverse engineer, resell, or circumvent the Service, its rate limits, its paywall, or its session-only privacy design.
• You will not use the Service to solicit or offer legal representation.

5. Accounts and billing

The free tier of the Service does not require an account. Paid tiers require a payment method processed by our payment processor (currently Stripe). Zero Dark Claims does not see or store your full card number.

Subscription and one-time-purchase terms — including auto-renewal behavior, cancellation windows, and refund windows — are disclosed on the pricing page at time of purchase. Those pricing-page disclosures are part of these Terms.

Subscription fees are for access to the software. They are not tied to any claim outcome, any percentage of any benefit, or any back pay. Zero Dark Claims does not accept, and will not accept, a percentage of a Veteran's VA benefits.

6. Session-only data model

The tools are designed to be session-only. Content you enter is not stored on our servers after you close or refresh your browser session, except for the minimum information necessary to operate a subscription (for example, payment-processor tokens and subscription status), and except for anonymized operational logs. Full details are on our Privacy Policy.

7. Intellectual property

The Service, including its code, design, copy, and knowledge-base content, is owned by Zero Dark Claims LLC and its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual-property laws. You may not copy, redistribute, or create derivative works of the Service except as permitted by applicable law or by these Terms.

Content you produce using the Service — your personal statement, your nexus outline, your buddy statement, your C-File summary, your notes — belongs to you. Zero Dark Claims claims no ownership over your Veteran-authored content and does not use your session content to train models.

8. Third-party services and links

The Service links to and integrates with third-party services, including but not limited to Stripe (payments), Netlify (hosting), Cloudflare (network), Google Analytics (analytics), and public government resources at va.gov and archives.gov. Zero Dark Claims is not responsible for the operation, privacy practices, or content of third-party services.

9. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without any warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, or availability. Zero Dark Claims does not warrant that the Service will meet your requirements, that it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any content produced with the Service will result in any particular VA outcome.

The Service does not provide legal, medical, or financial advice. Content within the Service — including form references, presumptive-condition summaries, appeals-lane descriptions, and any other educational text — is general information only and may become outdated. Always verify against current VA guidance and consult a VA-accredited representative for advice specific to your situation.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Zero Dark Claims LLC, its members, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, benefits, back pay, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service — even if Zero Dark Claims has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Zero Dark Claims' total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with the Service and these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid Zero Dark Claims in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Zero Dark Claims LLC and its members, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to (a) your use of the Service, (b) content you submit or produce using the Service, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms, applicable law, or the security or integrity of the Service. You may stop using the Service at any time.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Effective date” above and, for material changes, will provide reasonable notice on the site. Your continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Diego County, California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under applicable consumer-protection or Veterans'-protection law.

15. Miscellaneous

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force. Our failure to enforce any right or provision does not waive that right or provision. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, the Disclaimer, and the pricing-page disclosures, constitute the entire agreement between you and Zero Dark Claims regarding the Service.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent to support@zerodarkclaims.com. Zero Dark Claims does not accept service of legal process through the website.