DS Researchers Hull

[Pennines]

I wonder if anyone can help me please.

Strange as it may seem, I have been contacted by an Heir Hunting Company who found the names of my husband's Irish grandparents on my Ancestry Family tree. The tree is private -- so they must have searched for each name separately. It is apparantly an intestacy case going back to 1991 - so must relate to one of my father in law's brothers/sisters. Sadly all his generation, who we know of, -- have passed away. I haven't been given a name of the person who has died intestate.

The company is DS Researchers of Main St, Willerby, Hull.

They do have a website --- but have been communicating with me, requesting family information -- by email, initially via Ancestry - but I was then given their email address -- so now we are corresponding by email.
Has anyone had any dealings with this company please? Does anybody know of it?

I am naturally reticent to give name, address details etc - of my husband's family to this 'company' and I don't live anywhere near Hull, so I cannot just pop along and into their office.

I would be very grateful for any information anyone may have about this firm. I just need to know that they are what they say they are.

Many thanks in advance.

Pennines

[Jebber]

I can't help with any personal knowledge of DS Researchers, but from a check  on the Companies House website they appear to be a legitimate registered company.

Jebber

[terrac]

They will no doubt take a large cut for doing this..   you could check the bona vacantia list yourself and do it all yourself if you find something ;-)  They provide a list of all unclaimed estates in .csv format and tell you how to claim it yourself without paying a company a large chunk to do it for you.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/unclaimed-estates-list

Also worth noting DS researchers have a web site with a warning over fake emails pretending to be from them...   If you are unsure and want to go ahead with their services I would call them directly.  http://dsresearchers.co.uk/

[dawnsh]

Not on their site but this link could be useful

http://www.titleresearch.com/heirhunterfees/know_your_rights

[Pennines]

Thank you SO very much everyone for your helpful advice and the useful links.

I used them all --- may have identified a possible person on the Bona Vacantia list who this case could refer to.
I have printed the 'Heir Hunters - Know Your Rights' article from the link provided as well.

I have also rung the company this morning. This has set my mind at rest that this is a genuine case -- and I have been given a reference number. They are now going to write to us to put things on a formal footing.

My grateful thanks to you all.

Regards
Pennines

[MattD30]

Mum had a letter from DS Researchers today claiming they were looking for a beneficiary which could be her. The letter said they were looking for someone with my mum's name and even included her year of birth and the names of her parents. We don't know if the letter is genuine or who the deceased person could be.

I checked the Bona Vacantia list and found a Baverstock on there who has the same first names as my nan's cousin and who was born Kentish Town, London which was where my mum's mum was from. So far, so good, all the names and places match. However the date of birth on the Bona Vacantia list differs from his known date of birth which we have from his birth certificate and baptism record, plus other sources. Could the date on the Bona Vacantia list be wrong? Or could this be a sign that this letter is a scam?

Matthew

[Pennines]

Hi Matthew,

DS Researchers approached me via my Family Tree on Ancestry as I had both the parents of a particular deceased person in my Family Tree.  Like you I was very sceptical -- things like this don't happen to normal people do they! So I rang the company, after looking at their website;

http://dsresearchers.co.uk/contacts.html

I spoke to a lady named Anna. They were genuine in my case and were able to give me a case number reference.
Funnily enough the birth date on the Bona Vacantia list was exactly 1 year out from the deceased's date of birth on the death certificate. The date and the month were correct - but the year was wrong.

I emailed the Bona vacantia people to explain this and to ask where they had obtained the date of birth from -- they had obtained it from the Benefits Agency - so I figured that was the correct date. Whoever had registered the death must have been a year out.

DS Researchers charge 25%. The family decided to go it alone as we figured it would be a very small estate (it was an old case - 1991 -- someone would have picked it up earlier as the amounts used to be shown on the list).

In your case I figure that they will have done some homework to see if it's worth pursuing before researching beneficiaries.

If you want to contact me by personal message - to see how we went on - please feel free to do so.

[dawnsh]

Hi Matt

Have a look at my link in reply #3.

Contact the company and ask who the deceased person is. They should tell you.

Dawn

[MattD30]

Hi Matt

Have a look at my link in reply #3.

Contact the company and ask who the deceased person is. They should tell you.

Dawn

Hi thanks for that. I've checked the Bona Vacantia list and have found someone who matches a member of our family tree. The only puzzle is that the date of birth on the Bona Vacantia list is different to what we have.

Matt