Terms & Conditions

The Legal Stuff

By purchasing a package from Unearthed, both the Buyer and the Gift Recipient agree to the following Terms & Conditions: We reserve the right to modify these Terms & Conditions at any time and without prior notice, as deemed necessary for the business.

By commissioning family history research—whether as a package or hourly service—you agree to pay the price specified in our communications or on our website. This agreement can be established in writing (email or letter), by phone, or in person. You have a 14-day period to cancel this agreement; after this period, cancellations will only be accepted under specific conditions as outlined below. For reference, please consult the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If you wish to cancel after the 14-day period, we will not refund any payments made. Instead, we will issue a credit note for the amount paid, excluding any completed work. This credit can be used for future research services. If any research has already been performed, we will provide you with partial results via email.

For research packages or hourly work, we may require a deposit of at least 25% of the total cost before commencing any work. This deposit is non-refundable but does not affect your right to cancel within the 14-day period. The remaining balance will be due in full before the completion of the work, although installment payments may be arranged with your consent for ongoing research. Prior to purchasing any necessary documents, we will always seek your approval, and you will be responsible for the upfront payment of these costs.

When you commission work, you must provide accurate and relevant information. We are not liable for any inaccuracies resulting from the information you provide.

We accept hourly commissions in blocks of 3, 5, 10 or 20 hours, or any mutually agreed number of hours. After each block, we will send a report via email or website update. You are under no obligation to commission further research. While we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee success or be held accountable for inaccuracies in original or transcribed records. If future information contradicts our findings, we are not liable.

If certain records are unavailable, we will only charge for work completed up to that point. We will either refund any outstanding credit or suggest alternative research areas. The agreed number of hours must be paid upfront unless otherwise negotiated, in which case a deposit will be required.

We may engage third-party researchers to assist with your project. While we select reputable researchers, we cannot be held accountable for any inaccuracies in their findings.

Hourly charges include time spent writing reports. You may not share reports with third parties, and the information contained within is for your private use. We can provide additional copies for other family members upon request and at an agreed price. Copies of records sent to you are subject to copyright laws and must not be reproduced or published.

Postage, packaging, and travel expenses (charged at 45p per mile for car travel) are not included in our rates and will be billed separately if previously agreed.

Payments must be made in GBP via bank transfer, PayPal, or debit or credit card payments via Etsy.

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Expiry Dates for Family History Research Packages and Gift Vouchers:

All Family History Research Packages, and Gift Vouchers must be used by the expiry date, which is six months from the purchase date for research packages. Application forms must be received by Unearthed by this expiry date.

• Non-Refundable: Expired packages and vouchers are non-refundable, and services cannot be provided for expired vouchers under any circumstances.

• Extension Policy: If a family tree is required after the expiry date, a £60 (GBP) admin fee (plus bank fee) will apply, and the voucher can be extended for an additional six months. Application forms must be submitted within this extended period.

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Why a Six-Month Expiry for Research Packages?

• Bespoke Service: Our research is unique to each customer and time-consuming, limiting the number of trees we can research simultaneously.

• Planning Limitations: Research slots are scheduled up to six months in advance; longer planning periods are impractical.

• Revenue Considerations: Missed research slots represent potential lost revenue, which is why a £60 admin fee applies for extensions.

• Cost Management: We incur costs for document consultations, which we monitor closely. A six-month timeframe helps manage these expenses and ensures we can provide quality service without operating at a loss.

We appreciate your understanding of our policies regarding expiry dates and fees.

**Privacy Policy**

Unearthed complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effective from 25th May 2018, and updated on 29th February 2024. Unearthed History Ltd will be referred to as "the company," while "we," "us," or "our" denotes the company. "You" refers to the individual user of our website and services.

We utilise Google Analytics for website tracking. Google Analytics collects and reports website traffic data. Google may share this information with other services. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. For more details on Google’s privacy practices, visit Google Privacy & Terms.

Our website uses cookies to track activity and improve our services. You can configure your browser to refuse cookies, but this may limit your access to certain parts of our site.

You can contact us through the form located at the bottom of our website. The information you provide may include:

- Email address
- Full name
- Phone number
- Message details

**Security of Your Personal Data**

While we prioritise the security of your personal data, no transmission method over the internet or electronic storage is entirely secure. We use commercially acceptable means to protect your data but cannot guarantee absolute security.

To initiate your project, we require clients to complete a Family History Information Form, which requests the following details:

- Full name at birth, date of birth, place of birth, names of spouses, and children of the research recipient
- Information about the recipient’s parents and grandparents

It is the recipient's responsibility to obtain permission from any living individuals whose details are included in the form. The company will assume that consent has been granted.

We also request the name, email address, phone number, and postal address of the commissioning client to facilitate communication throughout the project and to send the final report.

Once the project is completed, the form will be securely disposed of (shredded).

The information collected (excluding client contact details) will be used for the family history project through myHeritage.com, where data is held securely. We use the maximum privacy settings available to ensure no personal information is visible to others.

After project completion, all data is removed from myHeritage.com and stored on our private system solely for the purpose of providing updated or duplicate reports. If you wish for us to delete all your data from our systems, please request this in writing to our registered office.

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**Copyright Policy**

Most documents held in public archives are protected by copyright, which imposes certain restrictions on the copies we can provide for family history research. While we can access and consult these records, we are unable to copy all of them and distribute them to our customers due to copyright regulations.

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Customers have the option to acquire these records directly, and we are here to assist with that process. We provide transcriptions, full source citations, and guidance on how to obtain original documents for personal use.

Please note that we can supply copies of birth, marriage, and death records (see "Deaths" section below), as well as Crown Copyright materials such as census records, where we have obtained the necessary permissions to copy.

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