Terms and Charges for 2008

INITIAL CONSULTATION is free – as is advice and discussion along the way.

RESEARCH CHARGES for work in the Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Lancashire area is £12 per hour. This includes travelling costs, parking etc and there are no hidden extras.  

REPORTING CHARGES for presenting results and analysis of findings, also £12 an hour.  
Usually one hour’s research generates about half an hour of reporting time, but it does depend on the type of research.
 

DOCUMENTS such as birth certificates will currently cost you £7 if ordered online. I will make no charge for organising the ordering.  If photocopies of Record Office documents are needed they usually around 50 pence per sheet.  

ESTIMATES are generally impossible to give except for very specific searches of known documents. For about 6 hours work,  I can usually gather vital statistics for 2 or 3 generations of a typical family, though a lot depends on the mobility of the families,
the rarity of the surnames and the proportion of records which are indexed.  

By the time I have spent about 4 hours I can usually tell you whether the project is unlikely to get anywhere.

BUDGET:  to get over the above problem, I will ask you for a budget – i.e. a maximum amount of money you are willing to risk as a starter, say £30-£100, though I can do little more than a survey of the difficulties for less than £20 pounds.  

             This way, you remain in control throughout - I keep you posted at each step, and if I run into trouble, I’ll get back to you before I go off on a tangent. 
I won’t spend your money going up blind alleys without your permission.  
When we reach your budget limit, we discuss whether you want to go any further.

If I come across research you can do yourself, I’ll mention it and you can decide if you want to pay me to do it or save money. Where I can use internet resources, I can work at home and will be generous in my calculation of time in view of the convenience it is to me.

PAYMENT:  I don't expect payment in advance - you pay either when the job is finished, or when I have used up the agreed budget, in which case we arrange another block of work if you wish.  If the outstanding amount reaches £100, I will ask you settle at that stage before we go any further.

FINALLY:  my aim is to work as much as possible in tandem with you; everything I find out or think about will be discussed with you.