Genealogy Chat

Oooh, you frightened me there for a bit - I thought I had finally gone mad! My last order, about a month ago, was for four certificates, three people if you see what I mean. I ordered each separately, but at the same time, in other words, I filled the screen in four times. I only wanted ONE of two births and I wanted the father to be James. This is what I put in the reference checking bit, by which I mean the bit that says 'additional details'. The on screen cost for four certs was 28 quid. I onlky received ONE certificate because my checking points proved the other three wrong. I was charged a total of 16 quid, getting a refund of 12 quid. And finally, I prefer to order from local ROs as these give a much more personal service which quite often costs nothing and is just as quick as the GRO. Unfortunately, my main area of cert-buying is in Lancashire and they have recently started an on-line blanket ordering service similar to the GRO - you cannot 'get at' the local ROs any more. Boo hoo. Olde Crone

Vicky Thank you SO much for doing all that research but it still doesn't make sense to me as I was charged £14 and sent one wrong certificate - Anyway - don't worry about it as I KNOW this extra certificate belongs to someone on this site called Susan who is researching another John Wilson born 1899 - Salford. I have e-mailed her twice but have not yet had a response - SSSooo frustrating as I don't really mind wasting £7 if I can pass it on to someone else. I will do completely seperate orders next time. Dea x P.S. - If anyone knows the Susan (Paton) I am talking about, please let her know I have the cert. Dea x

Thank you Vicky for your very clear explanation. Liz :0)

PS dispatch date for the certs just ordered is 7th Feb, not too bad I suppose.

Right then, after extensive (expensive) research on my part... GRO Ordering (for events more than 50 years ago) First page - is GRO reference known - YES SUBMIT Second page - your address details - SUBMIT Third page - Particulars of Certificate There are 2 mandatory fields here, the first name & surname . Anything else you type in IS NOT CHECKED so you could argue its a waste of time filling in anything else you know... Fill in boxes for the quarter, district, volume & page. You then see a box named 'Reference Checking' If you select this, you get another screen where you can type in whatever you want checked - such as father's name. You can fill in as much as you want. There are 3 boxes under this Submit - this ensures they check these details against the reference number you supplied. If they don't match, they don't issue the certificate. Reference Checking - here you can enter other index numbers to be checked. They charge £3 for each one. You can ask for ALL to be checked, or for them to stop when they get the first one that matches. You will only get one certificate (assuming they find a match) Resume - abandons any checking criteria you have entered. Don't hit this by accident if you have entered something to check! You then go to the next screen that shows you the details of the certificate you have ordered. Note if you have entered a checking point of eg 'fathers name' it IS NOT displayed here. Hope this helps

Dea, as I understand it, if its ONE certificate you want, but you have 2 possible GRO numbers, you should be charged a total of £10. You order one, and give the second number under 'Additional reference checks' If you have 2 separate orders you should have paid £14 and they refund you £4 on the wrong one, so it costs the same. (I'll look at the GRO screens now & try to work out exactly which boxes do what)

Liz, you had me worried there! I got some certs 2 weeks ago & put off the next couple till I had more info... If I had to pay extra for the checks on the new ones I would have been kicking myself for not ordering them sooner!

I'm REALLY confused now !! Does that mean when I ordered two certificates - same name - different reference numbers, at the same time - that is why they wanted me to pay an extra £3 each to check it was the right father. IF I had done two seperate orders - I wouldn't have had to pay the extra £3's and they would have checked the fathers' name for me??? I'm sorry if I am asking a silly question but I can't get to grips with this. Dea x

Ooooohhhhhh, I understand it now. Thanks Vicky. I have just examined the small print again, and it is indeed only if you are checking 2 GRO ref numbers against the same info that you have to pay extra. Confirming father's name is still no extra. Liz

Well tickle me with a blue feather!!! I have just looked at the GRO website and they do indeed charge £3 for each additional reference checking point. i a,m sure they never used to, unless I just didn't notice - but I am certain I would have noticed if you know what I mean. Liz x

looks like Zoe can type quicker than me! Checking points (like confirming fathers name) don't cost extra. You need to specify these under 'reference checks' as they don't take any notice if you just put the details on the first page. I know (to my cost!) having asked for a birth cert & giving father's name they sent one with a clearly incorrect father. If you ask for father's name to be checked & its not the same for the GRO ref you supply, they do not issue a certificate & refund you £4. You can ask for more than 1 GRO index ref no to be checked at the same time, and this is what you pay the extra for. (Clear as mud) I have sometimes used a local register office to confirm parents before ordering certificates and they haven't charged a penny. (This one has on-line BMDs & I send the query by email.) They usually respond within 24 hours. Note they cannot supply any details, just confirm whether your information is correct or not (like father's name). I have also been cheeky & used this to confirm siblings & not ordered the certificates! When I have ordered certificates from them I usually get them with 48 hours. (Same cost, £7) Note their reference number is NOT the same as the GRO one.

the extra charges come under reference checing if you simply fill in the certificate details and put the extra information in there then they don't charge you extra but will normally only send you the certificate if the details you've put on the form match you can select reference checking for which you pay extra and then add the details and if it doesn't match they give you some money back. I also believe (tho I've never done it) that you can use reference checking to give them details of a 2nd cert reference and then say 'I want whichever of these has a father named JOhn' - but I cant guarantee thats true Zoe

It is a while since I ordered any certs, but I usually use a checking point if I know one, for instance father's name, but I have never had to pay extra. Maybe the policy has changed now. Liz

Well, I havent order a cert for a month or so and certainly I never have needed to have a check, but Old Crone, Im sure it costs more if you do ask for it, perhaps because you havent the ref? Cant remember.

Steve - click on ''My Account details'' on the left hand side of the screen. Then put in your password. From there you can change your first name and your surname. Then scroll down to the end of the page and click on save. If you were a lady I would say you can also change your birth name (if married, then the maiden name wouldn't show). If you click on my name, it should just say ''Joy'' (hopefully!) because I put a fullstop in the place for birth name. Hope this helps. :-) Joy

Steve if you go into My account details you can change your name there.. Put your new name in first and surname... Debs x

Well.... thanks for all your help, both on this thread and a couple of PMs. Cert is ordered £7 One more question ..... is there a seperate registration process for these forums that will enable me to post under a name other than my own ?

And it is £7 if you order it from the relevant register office - when I do that (99% of the time), I always say in the accompanying letter please return my cheque if you cannot find it in your records. I have had superintendent registrars phone me to check they have the correct person and have had incredible service from them. :-) Joy

Hi Old Crone, I can't see where Heather said it cost more to have it checked but I ordered two certs about 10 days ago and I was asked to pay an extra £3 on each cert to have father's name checked - I didn't do this and so I received 2 certs - one of them wrong father, even though I had put father's name in. It seemed a bit silly to pay an extra £6 to gain a possible refund of £4. Something strange is going on here. Dea x

Sorry Heather, I know its rude to correct people, but: It does not cost any more to give checking points, its still only seven quid! And a four quid refund if your checking points reveal its the wrong cert. (Sorry, my keyboard is firmly locked into american mode and I don't have a sterling sign anymore) Olde Crone