Establishing a Project & Fees

No two research projects are ever alike and I am always happy to work with clients to come up with a suitable package, agreeing terms and costs before I undertake any research. Whether you have a finite budget and would like to know what I can discover within a set time frame or you would like to to dig deeper and find out all that can be found I am happy to work as flexibly as possible.

Before beginning any project I will need to know what are the main aims or key points you wish to find out as well as what, if any, existing resources you have searched in. With these answers I will spend a short time ‘scouting’ out the likelihood of finding results for you. There are no costs or commitments involved at this stage.

Once a project and estimated timescale is agreed upon, my basic fee for research is £20 per hour (with a one hour minimum). This includes all research both online, in the field and at archives as well as writing up. Extras would be public transport costs where needed (always at the lowest possible rate), any fees required to access sites and costs such as photography permits, certificates, printing and postage. Even in the event that no (or very limited) results are found, fees are still payable but I will spend no longer than necessary if this is the case.

At all stages I will communicate thoroughly with you what the expected fees are to be and where extras may be required and will only go ahead with your permission. I may suggest other research options that we could explore but again, will only proceed if you wish it.

A 50% deposit of the expected costs are due before any research can begin and the balance plus any agreed extra fees due at the close of the project AND before the release of the findings to the client. All payments should be made within two weeks of a completed project. Should you wish for any further or ongoing research to take place, payments will be agreed with you at regular intervals.

Payments can be made by bank transfer or sterling cheque (details are provided at the outset of an agreed project).

If for any reasons you wish to end the project early, please contact me to discuss; you will only be billed for the research I have carried out to that point. If you are unhappy or disagree with my findings, again please do get in touch; I am meticulous in my research but errors do sometimes occur and where you believe this to be the case, I will try to rectify if informed within a reasonable time frame.

GDPR & Privacy

I am a registered data controller (reg number ZB392945)

Working as a historical and family researcher requires me to collect personal information about you and your family such as names, addresses, contact details, dates of birth and other protected information. This information is used only for the purposes of communicating with yourself and in order to carry out informed (family) history research. The information you provide me with will not be shared to other parties unless agreed with yourself. The information you provide will be retained for the duration of the project and for twelve months in case the project needs to be revisited, after this time your data will be deleted. You can have all data about yourself deleted, subject to no outstanding fees being due, at your request.

Copyright

Unless indicated otherwise, all texts and images are copyright to myself, Naomi Parsons (Lancastrian Research). Use of any of the findings of an agreed project is restricted to personal and family use only and should not be reproduced for the general public (including online) without written permission from myself.