Birth & Death Certificates by PDF from GRO

[Guy Etchells]

Does any have any inside info whether the certificates would be reduced in price if the online delivery method became permanent?

Also wouldn't just allowing users to download whole pages (at least within the current date limits to comply with the data protection act) be much more efficient and profitable as it would require no or little further effort on the part of GRO employees?

The price is regulated by law not by the whims of the GRO see:
S.I. 2016 No. 980
Registration of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Etc.

 http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kvw/

This does allow one to request a PDF copy of a register entry from the Registrar General on payment of £6 (£8 for marriages)for the standard service or £45 for the “expedited service” i.e. within 3 hours.

I have not tried to see whether the GRO/IPS will honour such a service for marriages at present, or whether they will claim there is no requirement for them to do so.

It may be interesting to try.

Cheers
Guy

PS IPS = Identity and Passport Service

[AntonyMMM]

Does any have any inside info whether the certificates would be reduced in price if the online delivery method became permanent?

I think it is more likely that the price of paper certificates will increase if the pdf pilot becomes permanent. The current price hasn't changed for 7 or 8 years - but as as Guy mentions, that is something that would require a change by legislation, not just GRO choosing.

As far as notice goes .... I understand it was designed to be a "soft launch" to avoid a sudden impact on GRO staff and resources (as happened when the start of the 1st trial was known in advance).

The fact it was to begin in October (but not the exact date) was widely known, and publicised on a number of genealogy sites and newsletters.

[mutchall]

Does any have any inside info whether the certificates would be reduced in price if the online delivery method became permanent?

Also wouldn't just allowing users to download whole pages (at least within the current date limits to comply with the data protection act) be much more efficient and profitable as it would require no or little further effort on the part of GRO employees?

The price is regulated by law not by the whims of the GRO see:
S.I. 2016 No. 980
Registration of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Etc.

 http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kvw/

This does allow one to request a PDF copy of a register entry from the Registrar General on payment of £6 (£8 for marriages)for the standard service or £45 for the “expedited service” i.e. within 3 hours.

I have not tried to see whether the GRO/IPS will honour such a service for marriages at present, or whether they will claim there is no requirement for them to do so.

It may be interesting to try.

Cheers
Guy

PS IPS = Identity and Passport Service

by Statutory Instrument, which isn't too hard to change.

"The fee for a request made for a copy of a record (in portable document format) which is
held in a digital format is"

The line suggests that it would rule out marriages, until they've been digitalised, but should include the Birth registers that were ditigalised up-to 1934.

[annieoburns]

I got out my list and entered up details for first one then could not proceed as no option/tick box for the trial PDF service.  Pity about the price... I would order more if more reasonable and then they would probably get more loot out me   

Irish records of certs are available online for free 1864 onwards to certain dates in 20th c... not all scanned but many and you get to see the whole page including other entries.  Some compensation for paucity of Irish census records.

[Jebber]

I got out my list and entered up details for first one then could not proceed as no option/tick box for the trial PDF service.  Pity about the price... I would order more if more reasonable and then they would probably get more loot out me.

When you bring up the details of the certificate you want from the GRO’s Index it gives you the options to order either PDF  or Certificate.

[Guy Etchells]

snip
by Statutory Instrument, which isn't too hard to change.

"The fee for a request made for a copy of a record (in portable document format) which is
held in a digital format is"

The line suggests that it would rule out marriages, until they've been digitalised, but should include the Birth registers that were ditigalised up-to 1934.

Did you not carry on reading?

(2) The fee for a request made for a copy of a record (in portable document format) which is
held in any other format is—
(a) £8.00 for a record provided by standard service, or
(b) £45.00 for a record provided by expedited service.

This explicitly means paper records and is what phase three of the earlier pilot runs covered and charged.
I would also suggest the S.I. provides for the newer digital marriage registers and the convert civil partnerships records are also covered by the S.I.

By using a bit of creative thought one could even order a PDF copy of a marriage on the www.gov.uk site, but I do not want to disclose the deatails at present as it could disrupt the current pilot.
Cheers
Guy

[annieoburns]

Still a bit confused... I thought the trial PDF version was at price of £6 but now I realise that a marriage is £8 and that was the first one I entered.  I think the options for payment of different versions could be clearer.

Thank you for speedy response!

[rosie99]

Applications for each PDF cost £6, must be made online, and include a GRO index reference.

England and Wales records which are available as PDFs in this extended pilot include:

Births: 1837 –1916
Deaths: 1837 –1957

[AntonyMMM]

Still a bit confused... I thought the trial PDF version was at price of £6 but now I realise that a marriage is £8 and that was the first one I entered.  I think the options for payment of different versions could be clearer.

Thank you for speedy response!

The £8 option for marriages was tested in an earlier trial that covered records that have not been digitised already (so they had to scan each one as it was ordered).

Those non-digitised records are not included in this pilot, which only covers the birth/death records between the years stated above. The option to order as a £6 pdf will only appear when you choose one of of these entries.