Terms & Conditions
My responsibility to you:
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1. Before beginning any work, I will confirm, in writing, the work you have commissioned and ensure you are happy I fully understand
what you want me to do.
2. I will give you an estimate of the time required for your research. Please note this can only be an estimate as I will not know of any
difficulties in finding information until I begin. However, I will not exceed the original estimate without your permission.
3. If I discover the research is going to take longer than I anticipated I will let you know, and try and give a revised estimate of the
additional time needed. Conversely, if the research takes less time than anticipated, I will refund any unused complete hours.
4. On receipt of the required initial payment (see below) I will let you know when I can start your work.
5. I will give you a written report of the information I discover. If I fail to find certain facts, I will let you know what sources I searched.
6. All research commissioned will be conducted by me except for specialist research, e.g. Latin translation work. It might also be
appropriate to commission a third party researcher if, for example, work needs to be done outside my immediate geographical area. In such cases I will ask your permission before proceeding, and your details will not be passed to any third party without your
consent.
7. I will keep in touch with you during the period of research so that any additional information or queries can be discussed.
8. I will treat any information provided by you, that is not already in the public domain, as confidential.
9. I reserve the right to decline to take on any research where there is little prospect of success, for example, where you cannot give me
sufficient information to begin the research.
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Your responsibility to me:
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1. Please ensure you give me all the relevant information you already have so I do not charge you to obtain information you already
have.
2. You must give me your postal address, e mail address and contact phone number. This will remain confidential.
3. You must understand that research of this kind is not always straightforward. Over the centuries records have been lost or
destroyed. People have been known to 'disappear' without leaving any trace. You therefore must accept that you are paying for my
research time, regardless of the result, and payments will still be due even if it proves impossible to find the information you require.
4. Once you have commissioned me, you must pay in full for the first four hours of any research. For any subsequent research that
you request, or if you are an existing client, you must pay 50% of my hourly rate on commission and the balance before any report or
other information is passed to you.
5. You accept that I will charge my hourly rate for research, writing reports, analysis of information, any necessary travelling and any
time spent communicating with you.
6. You accept that, in addition to my hourly rate, I will charge, at cost, additional expenses such as obtaining birth, marriage and death
certificates, photocopying of documents held in archives and postage. I will not incur these additional costs without your consent.
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Payments:
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1. All payments must be made in pounds sterling and should be made by bank transfer. My account details will be on your invoice.
Overseas clients are responsible for any fees/transaction charges in respect of payment from a foreign bank.
2. Any payments by cheque must clear before I begin work.
3. I do not accept PayPal because of their high fees.
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Confidentiality and data protection:
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1. In compliance with the UK Data Protection Act, I am registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
I cannot legally share personal information of living people without their consent. I will only use personal information provided to
carry out research that you have commissioned, and to stay in contact with you.
2. If confidential information can be obtained by other parties from other sources (including public records or by means of
independent research), I cannot guarantee that such information will not be revealed by other parties through other sources and
therefore I cannot be held liable for such disclosure.
3. I will continue to hold the copyright in any reports I prepare for you. These must not be reproduced, amended or published in any
form, including electronic means, without my written permission.
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The relevant United Kingdom law will apply to these Terms and Conditions and the relevant courts of the United Kingdom will have
exclusive jurisdiction in relation to the Terms and Conditions.