Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and VA Claim Net LLC ("we," "us"). They govern your use of the VA Claim Net platform — the practice-management workspace used by veterans' claims representatives and their staff ("Firms"), and the secure client portal Firms use to work with the people they represent ("Clients"). The "service" means both surfaces together, along with the emails, signing tools, and integrations that make them work. By creating an account or using the service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

You accept these Terms by checking the consent box when your account is created; we keep a record of which version you accepted and when. If you work at a Firm, you accept for yourself and — if you have the authority to bind it — for your Firm. If you do not agree with these Terms, do not create an account or use the service. Two housekeeping definitions used below: "account owners" are the people at a Firm who administer its subscription, and the "billing page" is the page in the app where that subscription is managed.

A note on how to read this document. It stays published at this page, so you can read, print, or save it at any time. Most of it is addressed to Firms, because Firms are our customers. If you are a Client using the portal, Section 16 is written for you: it lists, in plain language, the parts of this agreement that actually apply to you. And where a sentence below is bold, that is deliberate — bold marks the sentences that limit rights, and we would rather you notice them than skim past them.

VA Claim Net is software. It helps Firms organize client files, claims and their supporting evidence, tasks and deadlines, documents, electronic signatures, and communication with the people they represent — plus optional features a Firm can turn on, such as the VA integration described in the Privacy Policy. In this industry, being precise about what we are not matters as much as what we are:

• We are not a law firm, a veterans service organization, or an accredited representative, and we do not provide legal advice. Nothing we publish — in the app, in help pages, or in email — is legal advice either.
• We are not VA-accredited, we do not represent claimants, and we do not practice before VA. The service is a tool for the accredited professionals who do.
• We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or any other government agency, including the Department of Defense.
• Nothing in the service guarantees any outcome on any claim. The Firm — not the platform — is responsible for the advice it gives and the filings it makes.

Parts of the service also connect to systems we do not run — for example, VA's own systems when a Firm uses the VA integration, or our payment processor's checkout pages. Those systems belong to the organizations that operate them, and we are not responsible for their availability or their decisions. If you need help with the service itself, that is what we are for — Section 21 tells you how to reach us.

Federal law controls who may represent veterans in their claims: only people accredited by VA — attorneys, claims agents, and representatives of recognized veterans service organizations — may act on a claimant's behalf, and federal rules control when a fee may be charged for that work at all, and how. The service is built for those professionals and the people who support them. By using the service, the Firm represents to us that:

• Every user on its account who acts on claims is accredited by VA under 38 CFR § 14.629 — as an attorney, claims agent, or representative of a recognized veterans service organization, in good standing — or works under the supervision of someone who is.
• The Firm will comply with the laws governing representation before VA, including 38 U.S.C. chapter 59 and 38 CFR part 14 — and specifically including the rules on charging fees.
• The Firm alone sets, discloses, and collects its fees. Any fee disclosures required by state law are the Firm's responsibility, not ours.

Support staff without their own accreditation — intake teams, paralegals, office managers — are welcome on the platform; that is what staff seats are for. The claim work itself belongs to accredited people. And if one of these representations stops being true — for example, a user's accreditation lapses — the Firm must stop that user's claim work in the service until it is true again.

We rely on these representations. We do not verify anyone's accreditation, and nothing about an account's existence should be read as us vouching for it — a Firm's standing with VA is between the Firm and VA. But if we receive credible evidence that an account is being used for unaccredited representation, or to charge fees the law does not allow, we may suspend it. This platform exists to support lawful representation, and the rules above are what make representation lawful.

You must give accurate information when you create an account and keep your sign-in credentials secret. You are responsible for activity under your account. Firm owners and administrators control which team members can access which client files; the Firm is responsible for granting that access appropriately. Tell us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

Firms use the service to store sensitive information about the people they represent — including names, contact details, Social Security numbers, service history, and claim records. As between us and the Firm, that data belongs to the Firm and its Clients. We process it only to provide the service, as described in the Privacy Policy — no advertising, no AI training, no resale. The Firm confirms it has the right — and any consents it needs — to put that information into the service, including any consent a Client must give before the Firm shares records with the software providers it works with.

So that we can actually run the service, the Firm grants us a limited license to host, process, transmit, and display its data for the Firm and the people the Firm authorizes. That license exists only to provide the service, serves no other purpose, and ends when the data is deleted as Section 12 describes.

One promise here runs both ways. While working together, each side may learn non-public information about the other — a Firm's business details, our security practices. Each side will use the other's non-public information only for this relationship and will protect it from disclosure. For client data, the stricter promises of this section and the Privacy Policy control.

Some records carry their own federal confidentiality rules, and those rules travel with the record. Two matter most here: substance-use-disorder treatment records covered by 42 CFR Part 2, and records obtained from VA that are covered by 38 U.S.C. §§ 5701 and 7332 — the latter specially protects information about drug abuse, alcoholism, HIV, and sickle cell anemia. Before uploading records like these, the Firm must have the consents those rules require, and the Firm remains responsible for the limits those rules place on disclosing the records further. Storing a record here does not loosen a restriction that came with it.

Some of what a Firm keeps in the service describes a person's health — treatment records, medical evidence, and the conditions behind a claim. We protect it the same way we protect everything else a Firm stores here: encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access the Firm controls, and audit logging of sensitive activity such as revealing a Social Security number or opening a stored document. Those safeguards apply to every Firm, for every record, all the time.

They are security practices, not a HIPAA compliance program. The scope of the service is deliberate, and it is a use restriction:

• The service is not offered for use by HIPAA covered entities — broadly, health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers that bill electronically — or by their business associates.
• Do not use the service if HIPAA applies to your use of it.
• We do not enter into business associate agreements, and these Terms are not one.

Whether HIPAA applies to a particular Firm's work is a question for that Firm and its advisors — we do not make that determination for anyone. If a Firm's circumstances change so that HIPAA does apply to its use, it must stop using the service for that work. This section does not narrow anything else we promise. We still use the Firm's client information only to provide the service, as described in Section 5 and in the Privacy Policy, and we still tell a Firm about a security breach affecting its client records without undue delay — and in any event within 72 hours of confirming it — and notify affected veterans directly, as the Privacy Policy sets out.

The service includes electronic signing of documents, including VA forms. By signing electronically you consent to do business electronically. Before signing through the client portal, each Client is shown a consent notice explaining electronic signing, and their agreement is recorded along with the version of the notice they saw. Signers can request paper copies from their Firm at no charge, and can withdraw consent for future documents by telling their Firm — the choice of how to sign always belongs to the signer. This consent covers documents sent through the service; a signer whose email address changes should tell their Firm so signing requests keep reaching them. Signature records (who signed, when, and from where) are kept as part of the document's audit trail, and completed documents stay available to the Firm and its Clients to download. That record protects everyone: the Firm can show a form was properly signed, and a signer can see exactly what they agreed to.

One division of labor to be clear about: when a Firm sends a document for signature, the Firm is the sender. The Firm is responsible for the document's content, for its legal sufficiency, and for knowing who its signer is — and the Firm decides which documents are appropriate to sign electronically at all. What we provide is the machinery — signature capture, the audit trail, and retention of the signed record.

Some features use artificial intelligence — for example, drafting an automation rule from a plain-English description. These features are optional; a Firm that does not want them can simply not use them. The AI provider we use is named in the Privacy Policy. Four things every Firm should understand:

• AI output can be wrong or incomplete — confidently wrong, at times. An accredited person must review anything AI-assisted before it is relied on or sent to VA.
• AI output is not legal advice.
• AI output is not a prediction of how VA will decide any claim.
• We do not use Firm data to train AI models — and our provider processes it solely to produce the result the Firm asked for, never for training.

What an AI feature drafts for a Firm belongs to that Firm, like everything else in its files. How AI-assisted work is used in a Firm's practice is the Firm's responsibility, the same as any other work product. The accredited professional's judgment is the product; the AI is a drafting aid.

A few rules that protect every Firm and Client on the platform:

• Only use the service for lawful representation work.
• Don't upload malware, probe or overload the service, or try to access another firm's data.
• Don't use the service to send spam or misleading communications.
• Don't use the service to enable unaccredited representation or the unauthorized practice of law.
• Don't resell or white-label the service itself without our written permission — the service is sold to Firms directly, not through middlemen.

We may suspend accounts that put other users or the service at risk. Where practical we will warn before suspending, but an immediate risk gets an immediate response.

The ownership lines are simple. We own the platform — the software, its design, the VA Claim Net name and logo, and everything else that makes the service run. While a Firm's subscription is active, its team and its Clients may use the service as these Terms describe. That use gives you no rights in our software beyond this agreement: don't copy the platform, build a competing product from it, use our name or logo in a way that suggests endorsement, or reverse-engineer the service except where the law says we can't stop you. Firms own their data, as Section 5 says — nothing in this section changes that.

If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the service, we may use them — including building them into the product — without payment or any other obligation to you. That way a good idea can ship to every Firm without a paperwork exercise.

Firms pay a subscription per seat, billed through our payment processor. What you see at checkout is the deal: the price, how often it is billed, the seats, and any trial — including the date it converts to a paid subscription — are shown before you pay, and we keep a record of your consent to start the subscription. Canceling is described just below, and it never takes more than the billing page. Subscriptions renew automatically until canceled. If your subscription starts with a trial, we also send a reminder email before the trial converts, so the first charge never takes you by surprise. At each renewal, the payment method on file is charged at the then-current price for the Firm's seats, and the Firm's current plan and seats always show on the billing page.

Fees are non-refundable. Canceling stops future renewals: the Firm keeps access through the end of the period it already paid for, and nothing renews after that. Canceling works from the billing page — the same place you subscribed, with no phone call required.

If we change our prices, the change takes effect at the Firm's next renewal, and we will give at least 30 days' notice before it does — enough time to cancel if the new price doesn't work for you. If payment fails and isn't fixed after we notify you, we may suspend the Firm's access until billing is restored.

Firms can cancel any time from the billing page; access continues through the end of the paid period. After cancellation, the Firm can request an export of its data. We retain data while the Firm's account is active. Within 45 days after the account ends, we delete its account information and VA-sourced identifiers. One exception applies: an identifier may stay in a claim or representation record that the Firm keeps under the next list. We also complete verified requests to delete VA-sourced identifiers within 45 days. The Firm controls its client records, so deletion requests go through the controlling Firm.

Dormant accounts are handled the same way. If a Firm's account has no sign-ins and no active subscription for 12 months in a row, we treat it as dormant: we notify the account owner by email, and if no one reactivates the account within 60 days, we close it and the deletion schedule above runs. A veteran's data — including data that did not come from VA — is never kept indefinitely in an account nobody uses.

After the 45-day period, we keep only:

• Claim and representation records. The Firm controls these records. We keep them only for as long as the Firm directs or legal or professional rules require, so the Firm can document its work.
• Billing and tax records. We keep them for seven years, to meet tax and accounting requirements.
• Security and audit logs. We keep them for six years to meet security and compliance duties.

We work hard to keep the service available, fast, and accurate, and we build it carefully. But no honest software company can promise perfection, and we won't pretend otherwise. The service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express and implied — including the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. We do not promise that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

To be clear about what that paragraph is not: it is not us caring less. It means the subscription price buys the software and our real efforts, not an insurance policy against every way software can misbehave. A Firm should keep its own copies of filings it cannot afford to lose, the same as with any tool its practice depends on. And if the service ever falls short in a way that matters to your practice, tell us (Section 21) — we want to know, and we will work to put it right.

This section caps what each side can owe the other, and it runs both ways. To the fullest extent the law allows, neither side is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages — including lost profits or lost data. For any claim arising out of these Terms or the service, each side's total liability — across all claims combined — is limited to the amounts the Firm paid us in the six months before the claim arose. A cap like this is the standard bargain in business software: subscription pricing only works if a subscription-sized relationship carries subscription-sized risk.

The cap has limits of its own. It does not reduce the Firm's indemnification obligations under Section 15, either side's liability for misusing the other's non-public business information (the confidentiality promise in Section 5), liability for willful misconduct (deliberately doing wrong, not making an honest mistake), or the Firm's obligation to pay its fees. Claims about the security of client data stay inside the cap — sizing that risk is what the cap is for. And nothing in these Terms limits liability for gross negligence or fraud — the law doesn't allow that, and we don't try.

This section applies to Firms only. To indemnify means, roughly: if your side of the relationship gets the other side sued by someone else, you handle the cost. If a third party — someone outside this agreement — brings a claim against us arising from the Firm's client data, the Firm's use of the service, the Firm's representation of its Clients, or the Firm's violation of accreditation, fee, or other professional rules, the Firm will defend us and cover the losses, damages, and reasonable legal costs that result. The Firm's practice is the Firm's; disputes it creates should not land on the software vendor. For example, if a Client sues us over advice its Firm gave, that dispute belongs to the Firm.

We give the Firm the mirror-image promise on the one thing that is ours: the service itself. If a third party claims that the service infringes their intellectual-property rights, we will defend the Firm and cover the resulting losses, damages, and reasonable legal costs. If such a claim looks credible, we may secure the Firm's right to keep using the service, modify the service so it no longer infringes, or — if neither is commercially practical — refund any prepaid, unused fees and end the affected service. That ladder is the standard remedy, and it means an infringement problem is ours to solve, not the Firm's.

One asymmetry, stated plainly: our obligations under this section — including the intellectual-property indemnity — are subject to the cap in Section 14. The Firm's indemnification obligations are not capped, because the risks they cover arise from the Firm's own practice, which we neither control nor price for.

Most of this document is about the Firms that subscribe to the service. If you are a veteran or another Client using the portal your representative set up for you, this section is yours. Using the portal costs you nothing — your Firm subscribes to the service, and nothing here changes your relationship with your representative. The portal exists so you can see your file, sign what needs signing, and stay in touch — this legal page doesn't change any of that. Here is what applies to you:

• Use the portal honestly and lawfully — the acceptable-use rules in Section 9.
• Keep your sign-in credentials to yourself, and tell your representative promptly if you think someone else has used your account (Section 4).
• If you sign documents electronically, the e-signature terms in Section 7 apply. You can always ask your Firm for paper copies, free of charge.
• Our Privacy Policy explains how your information is protected and how to see or correct it — start with your Firm, which controls your records.

Your Firm — not us — is responsible for your representation, for the advice you receive, and for the records it keeps about you. We make the software; we are not your representative, and we cannot give you legal advice. If something in the portal looks wrong, tell your representative first — they control your file. If you can't reach them and something urgent is wrong with your portal account itself, contact us (Section 21) and we will point you the right way. The sections of these Terms about fees, indemnification, and disputes — Sections 11, 15, and 18 — apply only to Firms. They do not apply to you.

If our company merges, is acquired, or transfers ownership, data remains protected under these Terms and the Privacy Policy. We will notify account owners before a successor takes control and give them a choice to export their data and close their accounts. If the service shuts down, we will notify Firms and give them at least 30 days to export their data. After that window closes, we will delete the data as described in Section 12.

This section applies to Firms only — never to Clients using the portal; if you are a veteran or other Client, nothing in it affects you (see Section 16). In plain terms, this section says where and how a real legal disagreement between us and a Firm would be resolved. It is also fully mutual: every rule in it binds us exactly as it binds the Firm.

Missouri law governs these Terms, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute that goes to court must be brought in the state courts located in Greene County, Missouri, or in the federal courts for the Western District of Missouri, and both we and the Firm consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts. That is where we are based, so that is where disputes get resolved — one forum, known in advance, for both sides.

Both we and the Firm knowingly and voluntarily waive the right to a jury trial in any dispute arising out of these Terms or the service. Disputes that go to court will be decided by a judge. We set that sentence apart because it is a real right each side is giving up, and both sides should notice it before agreeing.

Disputes are individual: neither side may bring one as a class or representative action, or join one against the other — a disagreement between us and a Firm stays between us and that Firm. The side that prevails in a dispute recovers its reasonable attorneys' fees from the other, which keeps weak claims and weak defenses expensive for the side raising them. And a claim must be brought within one year of the day it accrues — after that it is waived, except where the law does not permit that period to be shortened. One year is shorter than the default limitation period; we adopt it mutually so disputes surface while the facts are still fresh.

Two carve-outs apply. Either side may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, which is often the fastest and cheapest path for a small dispute. And either side may go to court for an injunction — a court order that something stop right away — to protect its intellectual property or confidential information, because some harms can't wait out a full lawsuit.

This section is bilateral, and we may not amend it unilaterally. Changes to it never apply to disputes that had already accrued when the change was made.

We may update these Terms as the service evolves. If a change is material — one that affects your rights or obligations — we will email account owners first, and the change takes effect for a Firm at its next renewal after that notice. Not the moment we post it, and not merely because you kept using the service: renewal is the moment you get a real choice. Non-material fixes — clarified wording, updated contact details, and the like — may take effect when posted. We keep a record of the version each account accepted. Section 18 sets its own amendment rules and is excluded from this section entirely.

A few short, standard items finish the agreement:

• Severability. If part of these Terms turns out to be unenforceable, that part gets read as narrowly as needed — and the rest still stands.
• No waiver. If we don't enforce a provision right away, we haven't given it up.
• Assignment. The Firm may not transfer this agreement without our written consent. We may transfer it to a successor in a merger or sale of the business, with the protections Section 17 describes.
• Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about the service, and they replace any earlier discussions or drafts.
• Force majeure. Neither side is liable for delay or failure caused by events outside its reasonable control — natural disasters, war, internet or utility failures, upstream provider outages — except that payment obligations always stand.
• Sanctions and export. The Firm confirms it is not on a U.S. government sanctions list and will comply with U.S. export law.
• Government users. If a government entity uses the service, it does so as commercial computer software, and nothing about that use implies VA endorsement of the service. Any additional terms a government customer needs must come by separate written agreement.
• Notices. Formal notices to us — the kind that claims a breach or starts a dispute — go to the contact in Section 21. Notices to you go to your account email, so keep it current. Day-to-day questions can simply go to support.

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at evan@processorteam.com.