Terms & Conditions

In commissioning research from Hutchison Heritage, you agree to the following terms and conditions: 

Services

Typically, the genealogy research services supplied will include reviewing information provided by you, the Client; formulation of a work plan; genealogical and related research; analysis of evidence; obtaining, evaluation and where necessary translation/transcription of documents; a written report including both positive and negative search results.

Professional judgment will be used to carry out the research in the most productive manner to achieve your goals. Every effort will be made to avoid duplicating research already undertaken, but information supplied by you may need to be verified.

General Terms

• Successful outcomes cannot be guaranteed despite best efforts: Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, research fails to produce the quantity or quality of results hoped for: not every birth was registered, or child baptised, not every age or place was recorded accurately, clerical errors occur or records are sometimes lost or destroyed and ancestors are sometimes mistaken or not truthful about their personal information. 

• To avoid duplication of research, it is the your responsibility to disclose information relevant to the research which is already known.

• Please be aware that sometimes research uncovers potentially distressing or uncomfortable discoveries, such as: family events (illegitimacies, divorces, remarriages, adoptions) court and legal events (arrests, imprisonments etc.) medical events (illnesses, causes of death, suicide or murder)
  Feel free to state if you do not wish to know about any such events.

• Research will only be undertaken if a reasonable chance of success is expected.

Fees and expenses

• Any travel expenses, or extra costs for purchase of documents relevant to the research will be discussed with you beforehand. If these are not specified then they are included in the overall price agreed for the work.

• For work that equates to 10 hours or less at the current hourly rate specified, payment will be taken up front. The form and amount of payment will be agreed with you. For work costing more than this, payment can either be taken up-front, or a deposit of half the amount paid in advance. The remainder will be paid on completion of the work, but before the work is handed over.

• Any potential further costs that come up in the course of the research will be discussed with you, and no additional costs will be charged without your permission.
  
  

Cancellation 

• You have the right to cancel the research agreement within 14 days of the first payment being made, but the cost of any research already undertaken during this time will be deducted from a refund. If the research has already been completed, then a refund will not be offered.

Research Reports 

• Before beginning any research, the aims will be discussed with you and agreed via email. Generally, completed reports will be sent via email in PDF format along with any extra documents obtained as part of the research. Hard-copy can be produced instead, although this may incur further costs which would be discussed beforehand.

Time-scale of research

• The time quoted for a project includes travel, research time and report writing time, but this quoted time for the project may be completed across several weeks or months, dependent on travel arrangements, document ordering, and other work commitments. For longer projects you will be informed intermittently about the progress of the research on an ongoing basis. If it seems that the timescale must be extended, I will contact you to discuss this.

Copyright and Future Use of Research

• The copyright of the research report remains with Hutchison Heritage. It is fine to use extracts for personal use, family use, or non-commercial use.
  You must obtain written permission for any commercial use.

• You should also be aware that the copies of any documents or other materials supplied with the report may be subject to third-party copyright and should not be reproduced or sold on in any way without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
  
  

Code of Ethics

As a Member of The Association of Genealogists & Researchers in Archives (AGRA), I abide by their Code of Practice and Ethics.

http://www.agra.org.uk/about-code-of-practice