Q. The contact form on your website does include a brief note about your fee structure. Can you give more information, please?

A. My fee for general genealogical research and record searching is currently £20.00 per hour, plus any expenses such as fares, certificates and postage at cost, where applicable. This rate also applies to any extensive searches in my own indexes, taking longer than those for which I charge the set fees indicated below; and to searches in the many other indexes, microfilms, etc which I have acquired over the years. Where searches in any of the indexes or other sources in my genealogical library are undertaken as part of wider research projects, I do not make any extra or separate charges for such searches, but charge only for the time spent, at my usual rates.

Q. What other reductions in your fees do you offer for more extensive searches?

A. If extensive searches of any kind are required and I am able to undertake these, I am happy to offer reduced fees, starting at 5 hours' work for the price of 4 (in other words, £100.00 worth of work for £80.00).

Q. Do you have a minimum charge?

A. Clearly, it is very often (though by no means always) possible to make better progress if more can be spent on research, and so, although I do not have a minimum charge as such, I do often encourage enquirers to take up the minimum reduced fee option (5 hours for £80.00). For index searches, the minimum fee is £10.00 or £5.00.

Q. Can you accept payments by credit or debit card?

A. I can now accept credit and debit card payments by PayPal and find this very quick and convenient especially for payments from overseas. For instance, although I am also able to accept payment by cheque (check) in US Dollars, the bank charges for conversion of such Dollar cheques to Sterling are very high (£10.00 or more) and so I have to pass those charges on. PayPal's charges for handling such overseas payments are more moderate and the system more convenient all round.

Q. What about other payment methods?

A. For payments from within the United Kingdom, payment by cheque is welcome and is indeed more the norm, although PayPal payments are of course also possible. Cheques should be made payable to Matthew Copus and sent by post to my home address. Overseas payments by cheque or bank draft, drawn on a UK Bank, in Pounds Sterling (or GBP), are also perfectly acceptable, though the PayPal system does often seem preferable for payments from overseas.

Q. If I pay you by credit or debit card, can you guarantee the security of such transactions?

A. I am only able to receive card payments through PayPal. This is a reputable organisation which obviously has its own security measures in place. I myself never have access to any personal details in connection with such card payments.

Q. I have seen the coverage lists for your 1851 Census and baptism indexes and the notes on your Nonconformist index on your website. What are your fees for "stand-alone" searches in these?

A. Specific searches in my 1851 Census or baptism indexes, or in both the other two indexes which I have created myself (these last two taken together), are currently £10.00 for the first search, plus £5.00 for each further search requested at the same time. The two smaller indexes - a general index and Nonconformist and late baptism index - only include about 35,000 references each. Therefore, for the purposes of this offer, I treat these two smaller indexes as one entity, although they are in fact separate. I can also search either of these two smaller indexes individually, for which the minimum fee is £5.00. As they are smaller than the 1851 Census and baptism indexes, it is naturally less likely that a given entry or family will be included.

Q. These fees seem very high for searches in what are, by today's standards, very small indexes?

A. I have always tried hard to make my indexes accurate and have spent many years creating them. I normally give full details of any entries found, so that (unless they prefer to do this for their own peace of mind) enquirers will not need to examine the original sources in question. For instance, I will give full details of whole families (living in one household) in 1851 Census entries, or of all baptismal entries which may appear in my index for children of a given couple, from copies of the relevant original sources. This can then provide a wealth of detail, which takes some time to note and carefully check to ensure the highest possible degree of accuracy.

Matthew Copus
307 Dale Street
Chatham
Kent ME4 6QR

Email: info@mcopus.co.uk
Web Site: www.mcopus.co.uk