General Chat

Callie, I was happy for a minute when I read your post, the amount of same name people I have to get certs for and the various possibilities make me reluctant to send off and lose £3 a time for checking, but does the paragraph below mean that they are taking out the checking i.e. mothers name Roberts etc., and that they are just going to send you the certificate and charge you the full amount whether right or wrong, just wondered.


"Please note in addition that GRO have reviewed the range of services which we currently offer. We have been advised that there is no clear remit in statute for charging for a service to check additional index references, or to retain partial fees. In order to ensure full legal compliance, and in view of the fact that we cannot afford to offer this service free of charge, we are regretfully withdrawing our reference checking service from 6 April. This will include the withdrawal of the "checking points".

Think if this is the case I will have to do without a few certificates, but then you can never be sure.

Marilyn

Can I just say that if the GRO do not find the entry you want you now get a full refund!

Do you all look at freeBMD? If there is a postem added for one you think might be yours it might have all the info on it that you need. I have added postems regarding all the certs that I have, so anybody looking at them can see all the info, then they wont need to buy those ones.

Huia.

I feel the cost is fair, especially when one earns the British pound. However for those of us who pay in New Zealand currency it does become a little costly; especially when the exchange rate fluctuates. In saying that I value the information I get from a certificate & it is exciting to be able to progress my research.

Happy searching!!

Jennifer

I think that NZ certs are $26 which is more than your 10 pounds, but then you get more info on our m certs, e.g. the mothers of the bride and groom are named, and I think our death certs have a bit more info too.

I really must order 5 NZ death certs before our lot decide to copy yours and up the price.

Huia.

BETWEEN MY COUSIN AND I WE HAVE BOUGHT ABOUT
100 +
SOME WRONG ONES TOO
HAPPENS WHEN TOO MANY COUSINS WITH THE SAME NAME
AND FATHERS ALL CALLED JOHN IN A SMALL VILLIAGE

WE WILL HAVE TO BE MORE CHOSIE IN THE FUTURE

£9-25 from the GRO, with or without references quoted, and £9 from a register office from 6th April.
The first time we ordered any, 1999 I think, they were £5 or £5-50.
Usually, I order from a register office where the staff have often "gone the extra mile", and I enclose a stamped addressed envelope.

All things considered, I shall continue ordering them.

for me, buying a certificate from GRO is still cheaper than buying it from a registry office!


Even at £9.95


The registry office want a stamped addressed envelope ............. which means I have to buy Postal Coupons, at $10 (ca £5) each.

I have to buy a special envelope to self address and send to the Registry Office.

Then I have to go to the bank and buy a Money Order, plus whatever bank charge is added.


The total last time came close to £20



Compare that to charging £9.95 on my credit card


No comparison



You know everyone will shout and complain .................. but will still go ahead and order the certificates.



It is a huge increase because it has all been done at once. I know that it has been the same price since 2003/4, others have said since about 2001


If they had done smaller increases over those 7 or so years .................. we wouldn't really have noticed.


I'm not surprised there has been an increase, I've been expecting one for the last 2 or 3 years



sylvia

Start of 1990s cost was £5-50 inc pp from St Caths,since then there has been many many post increases,cost of paper has risen,man power has risen,facilities are moslty done from the comfort of home,,,,,,what more could you ask for for £9-95...

cost of cert from a reg office by post in 1990 was £5-00..plus sae.

I bought an Irish marriage certificate recently. It had taken me years to track them down, they were my husband's maternal grandparents.

I had the option of a photocopy for just 6 euros. I don't need special paper, just the information.

Check out Australian prices for BDM certificates and you will see why we are so pleased our ancestors were born in your neck of the woods.

We pay double and more for all certificates. Our transcripts cost the same as your certificates.

Like it or not, it is still a legal document...and a cheap one at that.

The thing is they don't have to justify it do they? They could justa s easily take the facility away and say only next of kin can apply for certificates or something. I don't think it is too bad, it is the shock of the leap from £7 to £9.95

Its good value really,

£9-95,,cert,envelope,stamp,man power to get it all together,,,,,

I agree Budgie and am glad we've got away with out a price increase in the last 7+ years. I've still got 100s I could do with buying:)

I'm just relieved that I have the majority of my certs now...it's pre 1837 I'm tackling on most of my lines now .

If it hasn't gone up for so long then I guess there's a fair case to make for an increase... xx

If you remember the minimum wage - if they haven't been given the exact reference it must be at least an hour's work to process any of our requests and get the copied certificates back to us - before adding on the office overheads. I'm not saying its easy for us to accept!

i am so glad i have most of mine already


special paper
i would of settled for a photo copy at a fraction of the price

but on saying that what can you buy for a tenner

I agree with you Rambling Rose and TeresaW,

£10 for a cert is a fair price considering the information you get off them.
£10 not a lot.

Are you also aware that all these certificates are printed on specialised security paper (made by De La Rue if you want to research that), which is not cheap by any means.

Genealogy has increased in popularity over the last 10 years, and with the extra staff no doubt needed, the cost of keeping the original record in tip-top condition, which involves the use of electricity, the price of which has gone up year on year during this time, and the administration required to keep these documents available to the public generally, with a fast turn-over, all costing money, lots of it. If they have to raise their prices once every seven year, then who are we to quibble about it.

As Rose said, it's a hobby, not an essential. But it takes 'essentials' such as electricity and man-power to keep them available.

Yes it's a large jump, but it's not as though that price has risen every year is it? So 32% price rise over SEVEN years, is not really that bad.