Register Office Terms and Conditions
These terms and conditions relate to services provided at the request of the customer from Birmingham Register Office.
Searches
Customers should ensure that they have provided enough information for us to verify that we have found the correct certificate. We will not be held responsible if we supply the wrong certificate or we retain your fee because the information supplied is incorrect, incomplete or we do not have enough information to identify the correct entry.
For example:
- for a birth we would normally require the child’s full name and date of birth, the parents’ full names and mother’s maiden name if she had married
- for a marriage it would be useful to give the parents’ names for the bride(s) and/or the groom(s) as well as the actual place of marriage rather than just “Birmingham”
- for a death we would normally require the full name, date of death and date of birth or age of the deceased
We will undertake a 5-year search, that is 2 years either side of the year you quote. We will not perform another search for the same event at a later date.
Your details
If incorrect address details, including the country, are provided by your or a third party acting on your behalf then certificates may not arrive at the required destination. Birmingham Register Office will not be liable in such circumstances. You must make sure you check the details, and all parts of your address are correct.
Birmingham Register Office is not responsible for items that go missing in the post, we make sure that all certificates are sent via Royal Mail and addresses conform to their required standards. We recommend using Royal Mail Tracked 48 for certificate orders. Untracked orders cannot be traced and no compensation can be offered for items lost in the post.
The personal data collected whilst processing a payment will be used in full compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and in accordance with the , a copy of which is also available at any Council Neighbourhood Office and Library.
Payments
Payments are processed using the secure World Pay site and will show on your account within two working days. If payment is made on a weekend or a bank holiday, your payment will not be processed until the next available working day. If you do not receive an order confirmation, please check with your card issuer if the payment is held or delayed.
Full refunds will not be issued in the event that we do not hold your certificate or cannot find it based on the information supplied. A standard certificate fee is retained to cover the costs of processing and searching your application.
Cancelling an order
We cannot always cancel an order as we aim to process all orders as quickly as possible. A portion of the fee paid may be retained to cover the administrative costs of processing your order and administering a cancellation.
We reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions at any time.
Page last updated: 29 April 2025