Terms and Conditions
Summary
THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY OF THESE TERMS & CONDITIONS ONLY:
YOU MUST READ THE FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW.
- You must agree to these Terms & Conditions if you use the Website or make a Purchase from us
- The Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms & Conditions and you must also read the Privacy Policy
- You need to register with us to make a Purchase: you must be over 18 or have the permission of an adult to do this
- You must give us accurate information when you register and keep it up to date
- You must keep your sign in details safe and tell us if you think somebody else has access to them
- We can terminate your access to the Website if you breach our Fair Usage Policy for subscribers, breach these Terms & Conditions or if we cannot take a payment which is due
- You can only use the Services and the Records for your PERSONAL family history research and not for commercial purposes, or to provide lookups for others
- Searching on the Website is free but you must pay to view records
- You can get access to the Records using PayAsYouGo Credits, by buying a Subscription, or by taking up a Free Trial
- If you take up a Free Trial, payment for a subscription will be taken at the end of the trial unless you cancel first. You can cancel easily online.
- PayAsYouGo Credits are only valid for a limited amount of time – this is made clear when you buy them
- Some payments are made on a continuous membership basis: you can control or cancel this arrangement easily
- Subscribers and people taking up a Free Trial are subject to our Fair Use Policy – we reserve the right to stop you using the Services if you go over this
- You can cancel the Services within 7 working days and receive a refund of PayAsYouGo credits or a subscription, if you have not viewed any Records
- If we change our pricing, and you are on a continuous membership plan, we will tell you before another payment is due and offer you the right to cancel
- The Services, Records and features available can be changed by us at any time
- We cannot make guarantees about the speed, accuracy, reliability or any other aspect of the Website although we always try to offer a good service
- The copyright in the Records remains with the copyright holders: you must not use them to create your own intellectual property
- Our liability to you is limited
- These Terms and Conditions are governed by English law
Terms And Conditions
These Terms and Conditions apply to the use of the Website (defined below) and by registering as a User (defined below) of the Website and/or making a Purchase (defined below), you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. Our Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms and Conditions. You must read the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions, you may not use or access the Website or make a Purchase.
Your attention is drawn to Clause 14 which limits Our liability to you.
1. Definitions
1.1 In these Terms and Conditions, the following words shall have the meanings set opposite:-
"Account" |
means your account with us through which you gain access to the Services; |
"Authorised Stockist" |
means third parties authorised by Us to sell Vouchers; |
“Chargeable Subscription” |
means a Subscription not forming part of a Free Trial Offer and which the User pays to subscribe to; |
“Contract” |
has the meaning set out in Clause 6.2; |
"Credit" |
means a credit unit of monetary value on the Website which can be used to pay for viewing Records; |
"Fair Use Policy" |
means the fair use policy for Users with a Subscription as detailed in Clause 7; |
“Free Trial Offers” |
means an offer by Us allowing you the opportunity to use a Free Subscription in accordance with Clause 5; |
“Free Subscriptions” |
means a Subscription which is free of charge for a certain period forming part of a Free Trial Offer; |
"Intellectual Property" |
means any patents, copyright, registered designs, unregistered designs, trade marks (whether registered or unregistered), technical information, confidential information, know-how, inventions, database rights, all software and source codes and any other industrial or intellectual property rights whether existing in the United Kingdom and/or elsewhere and any and all applications for any of the foregoing and any and all rights to apply for any of the foregoing; |
"Pay As You Go" |
means the method of using the Services whereby Users purchase Credits from time to time or as and when required in order to pay to view Records, either directly from the Website or with Vouchers; |
"Personal Information" |
means the information about you provided by you on registering with the Website, or subsequently provided by you via the Website as more fully detailed in the Privacy Policy; |
“Purchase” |
means a purchase of Credits and/or a purchase of a Chargeable Subscription either directly from the Website or by redeeming Vouchers on the Website purchased from Authorised Stockists; |
"Records" |
means the records, including transcripts and images, accessible via the Services from time to time as described on the Website; |
"Resources" |
means as set out in Clause 3.7; |
"Services" |
means the genealogical, family research, historical and statistical services available on or via the Website; |
"Subscription" |
means a subscription to use the Services as described on the Website; |
"Users" |
means a registered user of the Website; |
"We”, “Us" or "Our" |
means brightsolid online publishing limited (a company registered in England and Wales under the Companies Acts (registered number 04369607) and having its registered office at 185 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2HS; |
"Vouchers” |
means vouchers purchased from an Authorised Stockist the value of which either equates to (i) a fixed number of Credits; or (ii) a fixed duration of a Subscription; |
"Website" |
means the website located at www.findmypast.co.uk or any subsequent URL which may replace it. |
2. Access
You are provided with access to the Website in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and any Purchases made by you must be made in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
3. Registration
3.1 To make a Purchase or gain access to a Free Subscription you are obliged to register on the Website and provide certain Personal Information to Us. Failure to register on the Website means you will be unable to make a Purchase or gain access to a Free Subscription on the Website.
3.2 To make a Purchase, gain access to a Free Subscription, or register with the Website, you must be eighteen years of age or over, or have the permission of an adult.
3.3 You shall ensure that any Personal Information which you provide when you register with the Website is true, accurate, current and complete in all respects.
3.4 You will notify Us immediately of any changes to any Personal Information supplied to Us.
3.5 You agree not to impersonate any other person or entity or to use a false name or a name that you are not authorised to use when registering with or using the Website.
3.6 Once registration with the Website is complete, you will be given a password which We require you to keep confidential. The password should be used by you to access the Website, make Purchases and access and use your Purchases or your Free Subscription. You should not allow any third party to become aware of your password and/or allow unauthorised access to your account. You are obliged to inform Us immediately by post or by email to support@findmypast.co.uk if you have any reason to believe that your password has become known to anyone else, or if your password is being, or is likely to be, used in an unauthorised manner.
3.7 You may only use the Website, the Services, the Records and any information you obtain through all or any of these (together the "Resources") for your personal family research. If you wish to use all or any of the Resources for professional, business or commercial purposes, or to provide lookups to others, you must set up a Corporate Account with Us. If you use all or any of the Resources for professional purposes or otherwise in contravention of these Terms & Conditions, We reserve Our right to charge you retrospectively for the use of the Services at Our standard rate of 12 pence per Credit.
4. Privacy
Our privacy policy forms part of these Terms and Conditions. Make sure you read our privacy policy.
5. Free Trial Offers
5.1 The start date from which Our Free Trial Offer is available for Purchase is December 2nd, 2009. Should We decide to end the Free Trial Offer, we will continue to honour any Free Trial Offer given to any User in accordance with Clause 5.5.
5.2 The subject matter of the Free Trial Offer is the Free Subscription advertised as being part of the Free Trial Offer at the time you complete the registration form for the Free Trial Offer; the period of the Free Trial Offer will also be specified on the website at this point.
5.3 When completing the registration form for the Free Trial Offer, you will be asked to provide your payment details. No payment will be taken from your bank account during the Free Trial Offer period, unless you actively purchase a Chargeable Subscription. Otherwise, payment will only be deducted from your bank account if you do not cancel the Free Subscription within the specified period as further set out in Clause 5.7 below.
5.4 Only one person per household is entitled to apply for Our Free Trial Offer and it is only available to those aged eighteen (18) years or over.
5.5 Any registration for Our Free Trial Offer will constitute an application which We are entitled to accept or reject at our sole discretion. Reasons we may reject your application include: (a) if your payment details are not verified by your card issuer in accordance with Clause 8.3; or (b) if We have reason to believe that you or someone from your household has already successfully registered for our Free Trial Offer. If we accept your application for Our Free Trial Offer, we will send you a confirmatory email. The contract between you and Us will only be formed when we send you the confirmatory email.
5.6 Subject to the acceptance of your application in accordance with Clause 5.5, your access to the Free Trial Offer will immediately begin after We send the confirmatory email and will last for the period specified on the website, except in the circumstances outlined in Clause 7.3 (exceeding Fair Use limits).
5.7 Unless you cancel the Free Trial Offer prior to the SPECIFIED period in accordance with Clause 5.9, your access to the Free Subscription will change to a Chargeable Subscription, (albeit the Subscription package will remain the same) and We will take payment from your bank account in accordance with Clause 5.8.
5.8 The cost of the Chargeable Subscription will be highlighted to you, and you will be asked to choose a preferred payment method, prior to you submitting your application in accordance with Clause 5.5. If you do not cancel your Free Trial Offer in accordance with Clause 5.7, the first payment for the Chargeable Subscription will be deducted from your bank account on the day after the expiry of the Free Trial Offer period, unless you Purchase a Chargeable Subscription before the specified period in accordance with Clause 7.3, in which case payment will be deducted upon Purchase.
5.9 You may cancel your Free Subscription at any time during the specified period by accessing your Account and clicking “cancel” where appropriate.
5.10 Free Trial Offers are subject to the remainder of these Terms and Conditions also and you should read all of this document, particularly Clause 7.
6. Purchasing Credits and Subscriptions
6.1 Searching on the Website is free but there is a charge to view certain Records on the Website. Subject to Clause 6.2, you can choose to access these Records either on a Pay As You Go basis by purchasing Credits or by taking out a Chargeable Subscription. Some Records on the Website can only be accessed using Credits. Details of the various packages and options are available on the Website.
6.2 If you have purchased Vouchers from an Authorised Stockist you can redeem the Vouchers by visiting the Website. You will be asked to insert a code from your Voucher into the Website which code can be accessed by scratching off a panel on the rear of your Voucher. Once the code has been accepted by Us, the number of Credits or the period of Chargeable Subscription which the Voucher equates to will be added to your Account and we will confirm this by sending a confirmation email to you. The contract between you and Us ("Contract") will only be formed when we send you that confirmation email.
6.3 All orders placed directly with Us via the Website for a Chargeable Subscription or for Credits, constitute an offer to buy a Chargeable Subscription or some Credits as applicable. All orders are subject to acceptance by Us and once payment has been received we will confirm such acceptance to you by sending you an e-mail that confirms that the Chargeable Subscription has been enacted or the Credits made available (as applicable). The Contract will only be formed when We send you that confirmation e-mail.
6.4 The number of Credits charged to view Records varies, depending on the nature of the Records viewed. We reserve the right at any time to change the number of Credits charged for accessing the Records. Pay As You Go Users will have Credits debited from their accounts at the moment they view the relevant Records. Users with Subscriptions have an unlimited amount of Credits available to them during the period of their Subscription, subject to our Fair Use Policy. Some Subscription packages limit which Records these Credits may be used to access.
6.5 Credits purchased by Pay as You Go Users are valid only for the period of time notified at the time of purchase or, in respect of Vouchers, at the point when they are added to your Account. After expiry, any unused Credits will be deleted from your Account and no refunds will be given except at Our sole discretion.
6.6 Only Vouchers purchased from an Authorised Stockist can be accepted as payment for use on the Website. Applications for refunds should be made to the supplier of the Voucher, not to Us. No refunds can be made for open or used Vouchers.
6.7 Some payment options for Chargeable Subscriptions and/or Pay As You Go packages (excluding those purchased with Vouchers) are offered on a recurring billing (“continuous membership”) basis, where We take regular payments at fixed or calculated intervals from your credit or debit card. Details of the amount of these payments and the intervals between them are available on Our payment pages on the Website.
6.8 In relation to the recurring billing arrangements referred to in Clause 6.7 above, We will email you at least two days in advance of each payment detailing the amount and date of the next payment to be made. You may cancel these payments at any time either by modifying your Account details on the Website or by contacting our Customer Support Team. Your access to the Services will continue until the due date of the next payment, or until you have used all the Credits you have paid for, at which point it will be cancelled. If we are unable for any reason to take payment on the date due, we may suspend your access to the Services until full payment is made.
7. Fair Use Policy for Subscribers
7.1 To ensure a high quality service for all customers, we enforce a “Fair Usage Policy” for Users with a Subscription whereby we place a cap on use of the Services. For Free Subscriptions, you may access 600 Records during the Free Trial Offer period. For Chargeable Subscriptions, you may access 5000 Records per calendar month.
7.2 If you have exceeded your Fair Usage limit for Our Free Trial Offer and you attempt to access a further Record, We will inform you on the Website and by email that you have reached your Fair Usage limit for a Free Trial Offer and that your access to the Free Subscription has ended. You will be given the opportunity to purchase a Chargeable Subscription at that time. If you do not purchase a Chargeable Subscription at that time, your Free Subscription will automatically change to a Chargeable Subscription at the end of the specified Free Trial Offer period in accordance with Clause 5.7, unless you cancel your Free Subscription before the expiry of the specified period.
7.3 If you have exceeded your Fair Usage limit for a Chargeable Subscription and attempt to access a further Record, We will inform you on the Website and by email that as you have exceeded your Fair Usage limit for Chargeable Subscriptions your access to the Chargeable Subscription will be suspended and then reactivated on the first day of the next calendar month.
7.4 We may revise our Fair Usage Policy from time to time and will advise you of any changes made.
8. Payment
8.1 Payment can be made through credit or debit card, and all card transactions are processed through a secure payment gateway.
8.2 All prices are inclusive of VAT where applicable at the current rates and are correct at the time of entering the information on to the Website. We are only able to refund VAT to customers living outside the United Kingdom on transactions over £100 subject to a £25 handling fee.
8.3 All credit/debit card Purchases are subject to validation checks and authorisation by the card issuer. If the issuer of your payment card refuses to or does not for any reason authorise payment to Us for a particular purchase, We will not process your Purchase and that Contract is automatically terminated without the requirement for notice.
9. Cancellation Rights, Termination and Refunds
9.1 Subject to Clause 5.6 and 6.6, you may cancel the Contract, without cause, and receive a full refund of any payment made by you provided you advise us in writing of said cancellation within seven working days of entering into the Contract with Us. If you use any Credits or access any Records before the expiry of the seven working day cancellation periods set out in this Clause 9.1, you will not be able to cancel the Contract. Please contact Us in writing via email at cancel@findmypast.co.uk or by post at findmypast.co.uk Customer Support, 38-41 Fourth Floor, 199 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TY, UK to cancel the Contract.
9.2 We reserve the right to terminate any Contract or User registration immediately upon notice to you in the event that you breach these Terms and Conditions.
10. Linking, Unauthorised Access, Hacking etc
10.1 We have not reviewed any of the sites that may be linked to the Website and are not responsible for the content of any linked pages or other sites linked to the Website. We shall have no responsibility or liability arising from the contents of any linked pages or linked sites or for any error, defamation, omission, obscenity or inaccuracy contained in any information therein.
10.2 You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Website or any Records, the server on which the Website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to the Website. You must not attack the Website via a denial of service attack or distributed denial of service attack.
10.3 Both parties shall use reasonable efforts to ensure that when using or operating the Services or the Website as applicable, no viruses, Trojan horses or other codes containing contaminating or destructive properties are introduced or transmitted. However, We shall have no liability in the event that the same are transmitted during the course of using the Website.
11. Customer Service
In the event of a query or complaint about the Website or the Services, please email support@findmypast.co.uk.
12. Intellectual Property and Right to Use the Resources
12.1 You acknowledge and agree that all Intellectual Property Rights in the Resources or content supplied as part of the Website, shall remain at all times vested in Us or the copyright holders. You are permitted to use the Resources only as expressly authorised by Us in these Terms and Conditions.
12.2 You acknowledge and agree that the Resources are made available for your personal, non-commercial use only as set out in Clause 3.7 and that you may only download material and content from the Resources on one computer hard drive for such purpose. Any other use of the Resources is strictly prohibited.
12.3 You agree not to assist or facilitate any third party to copy, reproduce, transmit, publish, display, distribute, commercially exploit or create derivative works of all or any of the Resources. You further agree that you shall not, and shall not assist or facilitate any third party to, systematically extract and/or re-utilise parts of the contents of the Resources and in particular, you may not utilise any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools to extract (whether once or many times) for re-utilisation any substantial parts of the Resources. You may not create and/or publish your own database that features substantial parts of the Resources.
12.4 You agree not to use or allow the Services to be used for or by any third party to access, or view any Records or download any material or content of any Records, whether on a paid or gratis basis, or to perform “lookups” of records on behalf of a third party.
13. Compliance with Laws
The Resources may be used by you only for lawful purposes and in a lawful manner. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, statutes and regulations regarding the Resources and any transactions conducted on or through the Website.
14. Liability
14.1 We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the Resources without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason any of the Resources are unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to all or some parts of the Resources.
14.2 We make no warranty as to the reliability, functionality, timeliness or usefulness of any of the Resources.
14.3 While We will use our reasonable endeavours to verify the accuracy or completeness of the Resources, the Resources are provided on an "as is" basis and an "as available" basis without any representation or endorsement made and We make no warranties of any kind whether express or implied in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the Resources or their fitness for any particular purpose.
14.4 We expressly exclude all conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity to the fullest extent permitted by law.
14.5 We will not be liable to you for any indirect or consequential losses, loss of income or revenue or loss of data howsoever arising.
14.6 Subject to Condition 14.7 below Our entire and aggregate liability to you shall be limited to an amount equivalent to an aggregate sum of all payments received by Us from you in the 12 calendar months prior to the date on which your claim arose.
14.7 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury resulting from our negligence or that of our representatives, agents or employees. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions limits our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation.
15. Severance
If any part of the Terms and Conditions shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable then that provision shall be deemed to be severable from the Terms and Conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any of the remaining provisions of the Terms and Conditions.
16. Waiver
No failures to exercise and no delay in exercising on our part of any right or privilege under these Terms and Conditions shall operate as a waiver thereof. A waiver by Us of any breach of the Terms and Conditions shall not prevent the subsequent enforcement of that provision and shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any subsequent breach of that or any other provision.
17. Entire Agreement and Variation
17.1 These Terms and Conditions and any other document referred to herein constitute the entire and only agreement between the parties in relation to its subject matter and replaces and extinguishes all prior or simultaneous agreements, undertakings, arrangements, understanding or statements of any nature made by the parties or any of them whether oral or written (and, if written, whether or not in draft form) with respect to such subject matter. Each of the parties acknowledges that they are not relying on statements, warranties or representations given or made by any of them in relation to the subject matters of these Terms and Conditions, save those expressly set out in these Terms and Conditions, and that they shall have no rights or remedies with respect to such subject matter otherwise than under these Terms and Conditions, save to the extent that they arise out of the fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation of another party.
17.2 We have the right to revise and amend these Terms and Conditions (including pricing) from time to time to reflect changes in market conditions affecting our business, changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and changes in our system"s capabilities. If you pay on a Chargeable Subscription basis then We will notify you of any changes to pricing before the next recurring payment is due and you will be offered a chance to cancel your Chargeable Subscription.
18. Force Majeure
We shall be under no liability to you in respect of anything which may constitute a breach of these Terms and Conditions arising by reason of force majeure, or circumstances beyond our control which shall include, but shall not be limited to acts of God, perils of the sea or air, fire, flood, drought, explosion, sabotage, accident, embargo, riot, war, terrorism, civil commotion or civil authority, including acts of local government and parliamentary authority; inability to supply the Services, telecommunications failure, materials, breakdown of equipment and disputes of whatever nature and for whatever cause arising including, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, work to rule, overtime bars, strikes and lock outs.
19. Assignment
You are not allowed to assign, novate, delegate or sub-contract any of your rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions. We may assign, novate, delegate or sub-contract any of our rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions at our discretion.
20. Third Party Rights
A person who is not a party to these Terms and Conditions has no right under the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of these Terms and Conditions. Notwithstanding that any term of these Terms and Conditions may be or become enforceable by a person who is not a party to it, the terms of these Terms and Conditions or any of them may be varied, amended or modified or these Terms and Conditions may be suspended, cancelled or terminated by agreement in writing between the parties for these Terms and Conditions may be rescinded (in each case), without the consent of any such third party.
21. Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and the parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
22. Statutory Rights
Your statutory rights are not affected by these Terms and Conditions.
