Terms & Conditions — RedRose Genealogy

Terms and Conditions

These terms and Conditions govern the provision of genealogy research services by RedRose Genealogy.

Definitions

“I/me/my” means Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration reference ZC208029, in accordance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

“You/Your” means the Client.

Your information and instructions

Your contact and family information are treated as strictly confidential and will not be provided to any other person or organisation without your permission. If you wish me to communicate with anyone other than you regarding your family research, I will first require your written permission to do so.
I may from time to time ask your permission to publish extracts from my research on my website and social media sites.
Occasionally I may incorporate results of research in academic coursework or assignments I set for genealogy students, in talks I give, or publications I write. No information about living people would be revealed. By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you agree to me using your research for this purpose without seeking your further permission. Any new information discovered would be communicated to you.
Before beginning any research, I will confirm your instructions in writing and my understanding of any specific research requests.
If you provide details of any previous research, it is your responsibility to ensure its accuracy to avoid any research being inadvertently repeated, unless you specifically instruct me to check its accuracy. Anything found during the course of the research which duplicates something you already know, or have found yourself but have not disclosed prior to research starting, will still be billed.
You understand that I cannot guarantee I will be able to find any particular person(s), family or other information and that I cannot predict how successful a search will be, if at all. If a search is unsuccessful, I reserve the right to charge for my time in conducting such a search.

My commitment to you
I offer family history research of the highest quality, delivered in such a way as to ensure clients are happy with the service they receive, are aware of progress and feel involved at every stage. You will be kept informed of my progress at regular intervals.
I will not exceed the time initially commissioned by you without prior agreement.
I undertake to report the findings of the research with detailed sources of the information obtained, including unsuccessful search details. Where research is not successful, I will provide information as to the avenues that have been explored.
Reports will be provided in digital format unless otherwise agreed.
Paid time includes research, analysis, drawing charts and reporting time as well as time spent communicating with you by telephone and/or email.
If in the course of my research it becomes clear that research has reached an insurmountable hurdle, I may offer a partial refund of the payment received. This will depend on the length of time spent on the project before coming to this conclusion.
If research does not take as long as expected or cannot progress as anticipated, any unused pre-paid research hours will be refunded to you.
In providing services, I may use trusted third-party providers (such as secure storage or communication platforms) where necessary.
Consultations may be recorded where agreed in advance.
It may be necessary on some projects for me to instruct other researchers as sub-contractors, either because of the distance to the area in which the records are held or because of a need for a particular subject specialist. In these cases researchers are carefully selected based on their specialisms and quality of work and you will be consulted prior to them being instructed.
I remain the primary contact on all projects and oversee all research conducted under the banner of Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy.

Professional Standard
As a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists (RQG), I abide by their Professional Code which can be found online at: www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/the-professional-code.

Payment Terms
For all services, an invoice will be issued on receipt of instructions and a deposit of 50% is required in advance. The remaining balance will be due on completion of the work, before the report and any supporting documentation is sent to you.
Where the work is likely to exceed the estimate, I will provide an interim report and further estimate for approval before further work is undertaken.
A payment plan can be agreed at any stage of the research, but the final report and any supporting documentation will not be sent to you until full payment is received. Statements will be issued monthly.
The cost of documents is in addition to my costs (see below).
Where travel to archives is required, I reserve the right to charge additional costs of travel at the rate of 45p per mile.
All invoices should be paid within 14 days.

Late Payment
If payment is not received within 14 days of the invoice date, I reserve the right to charge interest on the overdue amount in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
I also reserve the right to suspend work and/or withhold the final report and any supporting documentation until payment is received in full.

Document copies
For Family History Research projects, the cost of obtaining relevant documents is included in the quote, unless otherwise stated.
For other services, documents are supplied at cost price and will not be purchased without your prior agreement.
Where a budget has been agreed, documents will be purchased without prior approval provided the agreed budget is not exceeded.
Where copies of documents are required and a definite cost cannot be determined in advance, an invoice will be issued and the cost will be deducted from any amount paid to date.

Likelihood of Success
It is sometimes not possible to trace a family back as far as expected or find the expected information in a particular document. Research time includes time spent searching with a negative outcome. However, all research is positive in that a particular document or direction has been ruled out. Any negative outcomes will be included in my report.

Cancellation

Your rights
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you the right to cancel your agreement with me at any time during the fourteen working days immediately following the day you respond by email accepting my quote and terms of service. It is in your interests that I start work as soon as possible. Please note, therefore, that by confirming your acceptance by email, you authorise me to start work immediately. This means if you later choose to exercise your right to cancel, you must do so by email to vicky@redrosegenealogy.com. You will be liable to pay for the work I have done up to the date you cancel. The amount due will be deducted from any payment you have made to me and any balance remaining will be returned to you within 14 days of the date of cancellation.

My rights
I reserve the right to decline cases where I consider the likelihood of success to be low for example, where only minimal information is available (e.g. “his name was John Smith and he was born in the UK in about 1900”).
If payment is not made under the terms of this agreement and/or any invoice submitted to you, I reserve the right to cancel your instructions and discontinue work on your behalf. All outstanding payments will however remain outstanding.
Failure to pay may result in dispute resolution and/or court proceedings to recover any outstanding fees, which may in themselves result in further costs being payable by you.
If I have not received a reply by email within 14 days, I shall assume that you do not wish to proceed, and will take no further action.

Limitation of Liability
Genealogical research is dependent on the availability and accuracy of historical records. While all work is carried out using professional standards, specific outcomes cannot be guaranteed.
Documents are provided and interpreted on an “as is” basis and I do not accept responsibility for any errors in those documents.
My liability for any actual, incidental, indirect or consequential loss or damage howsoever caused, is limited to the value of the contract.
The services of any third party instructed to assist in the research process are subject to these terms and conditions. If they require you to agree to their own terms and conditions, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood them and you agree that any recourse for dissatisfaction or problems with any third party research will be sought from the third party provider.

Copyright
Any documents prepared by me in the process of my research, including any charts, reports, transcriptions and translations, remain the copyright of Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy and should not be published without my prior consent.
Any material which has been digitised by and obtained from websites remains the copyright of the individual website and will be fully acknowledged in my work. It should not be further published.
Documents obtained from the General Register Office (either in pdf format or as certified copies of originals) by Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy acting as your agent are owned by you but remain the copyright of the Crown and will be fully acknowledged in my work.

Data Protection and Privacy (UK GDPR)
RedRose Genealogy, operated by Vicky Thompson, acts as the data controller for the purposes of data protection law.
By agreeing to these terms and conditions, you agree to me holding and processing your personal information as required to carry out research on your behalf.
You confirm that any personal information you provide relating to living individuals is shared with their knowledge where appropriate.
Personal data will be retained in line with legal and business requirements. Please refer to the Privacy Policy for full details of how your data is collected, used, and stored.

Complaints procedure
In the unlikely event of you not being satisfied with the research received, I will endeavour to address any issues as quickly as possible and agree a refund where appropriate. If I am unable to resolve your complaint satisfactorily, I would refer you to the RQG’s Resolution Procedure which can be found at: http://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Resolution-Procedure-Nov-2017-v1.pdf.

Notices
Any notices should be addressed to and served on Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy at vicky@redrosegenealogy.com.

Applicable Law
The law applicable to this agreement shall be the law of the Northern Ireland.

Non-performance
If, for reasons of injury or ill health rendering me unable to work, I am unable to complete your instructions, I will provide a full report of work carried out to date along with full supporting information and documentation. I will also provide my written consent for such report, information and documentation to be provided to an alternative genealogist/family historian of your choosing.
If, for reasons of my death, I am unable to complete your instructions, my Executors will provide a copy of the work carried out to date along with full supporting information and documentation as they are able to ascertain from my research records. In those circumstances these terms and conditions provide my written consent for such information and documentation to be provided to an alternative genealogist/family historian of your choosing.
Other
These terms and conditions are based on the template created and freely provided by the Register of Qualified Genealogists (https://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/): Client Terms & Letter, September 2022 © Register of Qualified Genealogists, as amended by Vicky Thompson / RedRose Genealogy - vicky@redrosegenealogy.com.
Last updated 01 May 2026