Skip to main content
The Veteran Benefit Desk™
Legal

Terms of Use

Last reviewed Sep 5, 2026 · How we review

Effective Date: June 9, 2026. Last Updated: September 5, 2026.

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the website located at veteranbenefitdesk.com, together with all related content, tools, calculators, directories, and services (collectively, the "Service"), operated by Aurelis LLC, a California limited liability company, doing business as "The Veteran Benefit Desk" ("Aurelis LLC," "The Veteran Benefit Desk," "we," "us," or "our"). Please read these Terms carefully. By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms, our Privacy Policy, our Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice, and our Cookie Policy, each incorporated by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Acceptance; Electronic Records

By accessing or using the Service, or by clicking "I Agree" where presented (for example when an accredited representative or a business advertiser creates an account), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. Electronic records and signatures are valid and enforceable, and consent may be obtained electronically. (15 U.S.C. section 7001 (ESIGN Act); Cal. Civ. Code section 1633.7 (California UETA)).

Scope; Separate Agreements for Paid Products

These Terms govern the public website veteranbenefitdesk.com and its free public tools. Paid API access, enterprise data licensing, pilots, developer keys, and sandbox access are governed by separate written agreements (for example an API Terms of Service, an Order Form, a Data Processing Addendum, a Service Level Agreement, or a Pilot Agreement). Where a separate agreement applies, it controls for that product, and these Terms continue to govern use of the public website.

We Are Not the VA, a Law Firm, or an Accredited Representative

The Veteran Benefit Desk is an independent educational publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or any government agency. We are not a law firm, we are not a Veterans Service Organization (VSO), and we are not a VA-accredited attorney, claims agent, or representative. No member of our editorial staff is accredited under 38 C.F.R. section 14.629 to represent claimants before VA.

Under 38 C.F.R. section 14.629 and 38 U.S.C. section 5904, only individuals accredited by VA may assist claimants in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims for VA benefits. We do not, and will never offer to, prepare, draft, file, or prosecute any claim, supplemental claim, appeal, statement, or nexus letter for any individual; advise any specific claimant on which condition, theory, or evidence to pursue; review any individual's denial letter, claims file, rating decision, or medical records; represent any claimant in any proceeding; or charge any fee or accept any consideration in exchange for action on a specific claim. For case-specific help, consult a VA-accredited attorney, VA-accredited claims agent, or VSO representative. Accreditation is verifiable at VA Office of General Counsel.

Electronic Communications

When you use the Service, submit a form, subscribe to an alert or newsletter, create an account, or send us an email, you are communicating with us electronically, and you consent to receive communications from us electronically. We may communicate with you by email, by posting notices on the Service, or through your account where you have one. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. You may unsubscribe from marketing or alert email at any time using the link in any such message; we may still send transactional and legal notices electronically as permitted by law.

2. Eligibility; Children

The public website is intended for adults 18 years of age or older in the United States. Persons under 18 may read the public educational content but should not submit personal information, request emailed estimates, roadmaps, or reminders, or create accounts. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. (16 C.F.R. section 312.5 (COPPA Rule)). If we learn that a child under 13 has provided personal information, we will delete it.

3. Educational Use Only; No Professional Advice

The Service is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. Nothing on the Service is, or should be relied on as, legal advice, claims-representation advice, medical advice, tax advice, or financial advice, and no attorney-client, agent-client, or fiduciary relationship is created by your use of the Service. Our calculators produce estimates based on publicly available VA rate tables and the inputs you provide; actual outcomes depend on the official record and VA decisions, and the figures shown are not promises, guarantees, or predictions of any result. Articles and condition pages describe how the public rules in 38 C.F.R. generally work and do not analyze any individual's situation.

4. License to Use

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and use the public website for lawful personal, educational, research, journalistic, professional, and ordinary business evaluation purposes. You may read, cite, and link to our public pages with attribution as described on our Data Licensing and How to Cite Us page. This license does not permit bulk copying, systematic downloading, scraping, redistribution of compiled datasets, use of our original content to train or fine-tune artificial intelligence models, or commercial resale of our content or data without a separate written agreement. This license does not transfer any ownership in the Service, our software, or our content.

5. Intellectual Property

The Service and all content we create, including text, articles, calculators, compilations, organization, layout, design, graphics, logos, and the marks "The Veteran Benefit Desk" and related branding, are owned by Aurelis LLC or its licensors and are protected by United States and international intellectual property laws. Except for the limited license above, you may not copy, reproduce, republish, scrape, harvest, frame, mirror, sell, license, distribute, or create derivative works from any part of the Service without our prior written permission. Citations and references to government sources point to those sources directly; the government works themselves are not claimed as our property.

Trademarks

"The Veteran Benefit Desk," our logos, page headers, graphics, button icons, and service names displayed on the Service are trademarks or trade dress of Aurelis LLC. They may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not ours, in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among users, or in any manner that disparages or discredits Aurelis LLC. You may not use our trademarks, or any confusingly similar mark, in meta tags, hidden text, keywords, advertising, domain names, or social media handles without our prior written consent, and you may not frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information of the Service without our prior written consent. All other trademarks that appear on the Service are the property of their respective owners, and their appearance does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement of, this Service. See also our Copyright, Trademark & DMCA page.

6. User and Account Content

If you submit content through the Service (for example, a directory application, a business listing, a logo, or a message), you retain ownership of that content and grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, use, reproduce, modify for formatting, publish, and display that content solely to operate and improve the Service in accordance with these Terms and any applicable separate agreement. You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to the content you submit and that it does not infringe any third-party right or violate any law. Any feedback or suggestions you provide may be used by us without obligation or compensation.

7. Accredited Representatives and Business Advertisers

Listings and placements by VA-accredited representatives are also governed by the Representative Listing Agreement. Placements by commercial businesses are also governed by the Advertiser Agreement, and billing for both is governed by the Billing and Refund Policy. Where those agreements conflict with these Terms on a subject they specifically address, those agreements control for that subject.

Your Account and Security

Certain features of the Service, such as representative listings and business placements, require an account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials, for restricting access to your account, and, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information, to keep it updated, and to notify us promptly at legal@veteranbenefitdesk.com of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from unauthorized use of your account that results from your failure to safeguard your credentials. We may require you to change your credentials or re-verify your identity where reasonably necessary to protect the Service.

8. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to:

  • violate any applicable law, regulation, or third-party right;
  • hold yourself out as VA-accredited, or as preparing, presenting, or prosecuting VA claims, unless you are in fact accredited under 38 C.F.R. section 14.629, or use the Service in connection with the unauthorized practice of law or unauthorized claims assistance;
  • charge any claimant a fee to prepare or file a VA benefits claim in violation of 38 U.S.C. section 5904 and 38 C.F.R. section 14.636;
  • use any automated means (including bots, crawlers, spiders, or scraping tools) to access, query, copy, harvest, or index the Service, any directory, profile, calculator, or content without our prior written permission. Bona fide search engines and answer engines are expressly permitted to crawl and index the Service to the extent allowed by our robots.txt file and crawler access controls; that permission covers search indexing and citation with attribution and a link back to the Service. It does not extend to bulk republication of content or datasets, and it does not extend to use of Service content for training artificial intelligence models where our robots.txt or crawler access controls disallow the relevant agent;
  • interfere with or disrupt the operation or security of the Service or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account, data, or system;
  • upload or transmit any virus, malware, or harmful code;
  • reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code or underlying ideas of the Service;
  • use the Service to spam, solicit, or harass users or representatives;
  • use our original content or compiled datasets to build, train, fine-tune, or improve a competing product or service or an artificial intelligence model without a written license (independent research and ordinary competition that do not use our content or datasets are not restricted); or
  • resell, sublicense, lease, or otherwise make the Service available to third parties without our prior written consent.

Right to Refuse, Suspend, or Terminate

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to refuse service, decline or remove any listing, application, or submission, suspend or terminate any account, revoke the license granted in these Terms, and restrict or block access to all or part of the Service, with or without notice, including where we reasonably believe a user has violated these Terms, an incorporated agreement, applicable law, or the rights of any person, or where the conduct creates risk or possible legal exposure for us, our users, or third parties. For paid placements, the effect of a removal or termination on fees is governed by the Billing and Refund Policy, and where the Representative Listing Agreement or Advertiser Agreement addresses termination of a listing or placement, that agreement controls for that subject. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, arbitration, and governing law) survive.

9. Third-Party Links, Directories, and Sponsored Placements

The Service contains links to third-party websites and lists VA-accredited representatives and paid business advertisers. A listing or placement is not an endorsement, recommendation, guarantee, or warranty of any third party or its services. Paid placements are labeled as sponsored consistent with the FTC Endorsement Guides, 16 C.F.R. part 255. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, accuracy, conduct, products, or services of any third party. Your dealings with any third party are solely between you and that third party. You should verify any representative's accreditation directly with VA and exercise your own judgment before engaging any third party.

Research Independence

Sponsorships, advertising, and enterprise licensing fund our research operation. They do not grant any sponsor, advertiser, or customer influence over what we publish, and our public editorial content is governed by our Editorial Policy and Source Policy. Where we describe our research as independent, we mean that no outside party controls our editorial decisions; it does not mean that our work has been audited or endorsed by any government agency.

10. Disclaimers

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT INFORMATION WILL BE COMPLETE OR CURRENT, OR THAT ANY USE OF THE SERVICE WILL LEAD TO ANY PARTICULAR OUTCOME WITH VA OR OTHERWISE. VA laws, regulations, and rate tables change, and we do not undertake any obligation to update information except as required by law. Nothing in these Terms limits any rights that cannot be disclaimed or waived under applicable law.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AURELIS LLC AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BENEFITS, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE OR YOUR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US$100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US, IF ANY, FOR THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. If you are dissatisfied with the Service, your sole and exclusive remedy is to stop using it.

Mandatory Law Safeguard

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability, right, or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. In particular, nothing in these Terms limits our liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, willful injury to a person or property, violation of law, or death or personal injury caused by negligence, and nothing in these Terms waives any consumer right that applicable law does not allow to be waived. (Cal. Civ. Code section 1668). If any limitation in these Terms is held to be unenforceable in a particular situation, it will apply to the maximum extent the law allows in that situation.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Aurelis LLC and its members, managers, officers, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any and all third-party claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or related to (a) your use of the Service in violation of these Terms; (b) your violation of any law or regulation, including 38 C.F.R. part 14 and 38 U.S.C. section 5904; (c) any content or information you submit that infringes third-party rights or is unlawful; or (d) your willful misconduct. This obligation applies to misuse and violations; it does not apply to ordinary reading of the public website, and it does not apply to the extent a claim arises from our own gross negligence, willful misconduct, or breach of these Terms.

Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.

Except where prohibited by law, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these terms or your use of the Service (including the formation, performance, breach, or termination of these terms, and whether the claims arise in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other legal theory) will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, or by JAMS, at the claimant's election. This arbitration agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. section 1 et seq. (9 U.S.C. section 2). The arbitrator's decision will be final and binding, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitration will take place in San Diego County, California, or at another location mutually agreed by the parties, or by remote means where available.

Informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration, you agree to first send us a written notice of dispute that describes the claim and the relief sought, using the contact details at the end of these Terms, and to try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days. We will do the same if we have a dispute with you. Completing this informal step is a condition to starting an arbitration.

Your 30-day right to opt out of arbitration. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement, including the class action waiver, by sending us written notice within thirty (30) days of first accepting these Terms (or, if these provisions are added later, within thirty (30) days of their effective date). Your notice must include your name, the email address associated with your use of the Service, and a clear statement that you want to opt out of arbitration. Send it using the contact details at the end of these Terms. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms and will not affect your ability to use the Service.

Small claims. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction, so long as the matter stays in that court and proceeds only on an individual, non-class basis.

Time limits. Claims are subject to the limitation periods provided by applicable law; these Terms do not shorten them.

In California, any waiver of the right to seek public injunctive relief is unenforceable, and nothing in these terms limits that right. (McGill v. Citibank, N.A., 2 Cal.5th 945 (2017)).

THE PARTIES AGREE TO ARBITRATE ALL DISPUTES ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS ONLY AND NOT AS A CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. YOU WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION.

If any portion of this arbitration agreement is found to be unenforceable, the unenforceable portion will be severed and the remaining arbitration terms will be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim, and only that claim, will be severed and resolved in a court of competent jurisdiction, and the remaining claims will proceed in arbitration.

Governing Law and Venue

These terms and any dispute arising out of or related to the Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to the arbitration provisions above, venue for any action, proceeding, or enforcement of an arbitration award arising out of or relating to these terms lies exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Diego County, California, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

13. Changes to the Service or These Terms

We may update, modify, or discontinue any feature of the Service or these Terms from time to time. Updated Terms will be posted on this page with a new "Last Updated" date. For material changes we will give notice by a prominent notice on the Service or, for account holders and subscribers, by email, at least fifteen (15) days before the change takes effect where practicable, and for California users we will disclose material changes to privacy practices consistent with CalOPPA and the CCPA/CPRA. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code section 22575). Changes apply prospectively. If you do not agree to a change, stop using the Service before it takes effect; your use of the Service after the effective date of a change of which you received notice constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Force Majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay in performing under these Terms, or for any interruption or unavailability of the Service, caused by events or conditions beyond our reasonable control. These include, without limitation, acts of God, natural disasters, fire, flood, severe weather, epidemics or pandemics, war, terrorism, civil unrest, government actions or orders, labor disputes, power or telecommunications failures, internet or hosting-provider outages, cyberattacks, and failures of third-party service providers. While such an event continues, our affected obligations are suspended, and we will use commercially reasonable efforts to resume performance as soon as practicable.

14. Assignment; Non-Waiver; Severability; Entire Agreement

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent, and any attempt to do so is void. We may assign these Terms to any affiliate or successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary and the remaining provisions will remain in full force. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Consumer Health Data Privacy Notice, Cookie Policy, and any agreement expressly incorporated by reference, are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the public website and supersede all prior communications about it. If there is a conflict between these Terms and an incorporated policy, these Terms control unless the incorporated policy expressly states otherwise.

15. Export and Sanctions Compliance

You agree to comply with all applicable U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and represent that you are not located in, or acting on behalf of, any person or entity subject to U.S. sanctions.

Notice for California Users

Under California Civil Code section 1789.3, California users of the Service are entitled to the following consumer rights notice: the Service is provided by Aurelis LLC, whose contact details appear at the end of these Terms. If you have a complaint regarding the Service, or wish to request further information, contact us using those details. You may also contact the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (800) 952-5210. (Cal. Civ. Code section 1789.3).

Copyright & Proprietary Rights

All content on The Veteran Benefit Desk (including the text, design, layout, calculators, condition library, rating-criteria summaries, directory, databases, source code, logos, and the selection, coordination, and arrangement of all of it) is owned by Aurelis LLC or its licensors and is protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. "The Veteran Benefit Desk" and our logos are trademarks of Aurelis LLC.

Except for the uses expressly permitted by these Terms and our Data Licensing and How to Cite Us page, you may not copy, reproduce, republish, scrape, harvest, frame, mirror, sell, license, or create derivative works from any part of this site without our prior written permission. Automated access, bulk downloading, scraping, or using our content to train or fine-tune machine-learning or AI models is prohibited without a written license.

We actively monitor for infringement. To report copied content or submit a takedown request, see our Copyright, Trademark & DMCA page.

Contact

  • Operator: Aurelis LLC, doing business as The Veteran Benefit Desk
  • Mailing address: Aurelis LLC, c/o Northwest Registered Agent, 2108 N Street, Suite N, Sacramento, CA 95816, United States
  • Requests and questions: email legal@veteranbenefitdesk.com or use the Contact page. Notices may be sent to the mailing address above.
This is an educational estimate and not a guarantee of benefits, ratings, or back pay. VA makes all final determinations. We are not a law firm, VSO, accredited claims agent, or VA representative. We provide educational information only and encourage veterans to seek accredited help for individual claim advice. The Veteran Benefit Desk™ is a veteran founded independent digital publication and education platform that helps veterans understand VA disability claims, ratings, evidence, and appeals using clear explanations, original research, and cited public sources.
Printed from The Veteran Benefit Desk, https://veteranbenefitdesk.com/legal/terms-of-use. Figures reflect this page as published. Rates change each December; confirm current amounts at veteranbenefitdesk.com before relying on them.
We use only strictly necessary, first-party cookies. No advertising or cross-site tracking cookies run on this site. We use limited first-party, cookieless measurement to understand site performance and prevent abuse: no third-party pixels, no ad profiling, and no selling or sharing of personal information for behavioral advertising. We honor Global Privacy Control signals automatically, and if we ever add optional cookies, the choice you save here will govern them. Read our Privacy Policy.