Terms & Conditions
These Terms & Conditions apply to investigative, open-source intelligence, digital research and analytical services provided by James Rae Investigations.
Please read these Terms carefully before instructing us. Submitting an enquiry does not create a contract or mean that James Rae Investigations has accepted an instruction.
A contract for investigative services will only arise once the scope of work and applicable fees have been agreed and the instruction has been accepted by James Rae Investigations.
Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights.
1. Our Services
James Rae Investigations provides professional investigative research and analytical services, including online identity investigations, people tracing, background research, social media and digital footprint enquiries, open-source intelligence (OSINT), business due diligence and evidence and information analysis.
The precise scope of each investigation will be agreed before work begins.
2. Acceptance of Instructions
Every enquiry is assessed before an instruction is accepted.
We may request further information about your enquiry, what you would like to establish, information you already possess and your legitimate reason for requesting the investigation.
We reserve the right to decline an instruction.
We will not knowingly accept work intended to facilitate unlawful activity, stalking, harassment, intimidation, coercive behaviour, unlawful discrimination or another improper purpose.
3. Scope of Work
Before work begins, we will agree the intended objective and scope of the investigation.
This may include the questions to be addressed, proposed research or analysis, anticipated timescale, applicable fees or authorised expenditure, limitations and intended deliverable.
Our work will focus on the agreed investigative objectives rather than collecting information simply because it is available.
Material additional work or expenditure outside the agreed scope will normally be discussed with you before it is undertaken.
4. Information You Provide
By instructing James Rae Investigations, you confirm to the best of your knowledge that:
you have a legitimate reason for requesting the investigation;
information you provide is accurate;
information or material supplied by you has been obtained lawfully; and
you will not knowingly use our services or findings for an unlawful or improper purpose.
We may decline, suspend or terminate an instruction where we have reasonable concerns about its purpose or the information supplied.
5. Investigative Methods
James Rae Investigations principally conducts research using publicly available and lawfully accessible information together with information lawfully supplied by clients.
This may include publicly available websites, social media, search engines, archived webpages, company information, public registers, media sources and other lawful open sources.
We do not provide hacking, unauthorised access to accounts or systems, or access to restricted databases for which we have no lawful authority.
6. Fees and Payment
Fees will be explained before an instruction is accepted.
Depending upon the investigation, work may be provided for a fixed fee, according to agreed investigative time, subject to an agreed maximum expenditure, or on another basis expressly agreed with you.
Investigative time may include research, verification, analysis, review of information, preparation of timelines or analytical material, case recording and preparation of findings or reports.
Payment may be required before investigative work begins.
Additional chargeable work outside the agreed scope will normally require further agreement.
7. Timescales
Any timescale provided is an estimate unless expressly agreed otherwise.
The time required may depend upon the complexity of the investigation, information available and developments arising during the work.
We will inform you where a material delay becomes apparent.
8. Investigative Outcomes
No particular investigative outcome or result can be guaranteed.
Our responsibility is to undertake the agreed work professionally, objectively and with reasonable care and skill.
An investigation may establish or corroborate information, identify inconsistencies or investigative opportunities, or conclude that the available information does not permit a reliable or definitive answer.
A lack of a definitive answer does not, by itself, mean that the agreed investigative service has not been provided.
9. Reports and Findings
The final deliverable will depend upon the service agreed and may include a written report, investigative findings, analytical assessment, chronology, summary or another agreed format.
Findings reflect the information reasonably available at the time of the investigation.
Public and online information can be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or incorrectly attributed. Where appropriate, we will seek to distinguish between corroborated information, indications, inconsistencies and matters that cannot reliably be established.
10. Consumer Cancellation Rights
If you are acting as a consumer and enter into a contract with us remotely, you may have a statutory right to cancel within 14 days of the contract being made.
If you expressly request that investigative work begins during that cancellation period and subsequently cancel before the agreed service has been fully performed, you may be required to pay a proportionate amount for services provided up to the point of cancellation.
Where the agreed service has been fully performed during the cancellation period following your express request for work to begin and your acknowledgement that your cancellation right will be lost upon full performance, your statutory right to cancel will end when the service has been fully performed.
Nothing in these Terms limits any statutory cancellation rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
11. Cancellation of an Investigation
If you wish to end an investigation, please contact us as soon as possible.
Where reasonably possible, we will stop further work. You will remain responsible for fees properly due for work already undertaken and any reasonable non-recoverable costs incurred in connection with the agreed instruction.
Any refund due will take account of work already performed and your applicable statutory rights.
12. Confidentiality and Data Protection
Information provided by clients and generated during investigations will be treated as confidential, subject to applicable legal obligations.
Personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Notice and applicable data-protection requirements.
Investigation material will be deleted when it is no longer reasonably required and will ordinarily be retained for no longer than six months after an investigation closes, unless there is a specific legitimate or legal reason for retaining particular information for longer.
13. Use of Reports
Reports and findings are prepared for the client and the legitimate purpose identified when the investigation was commissioned unless otherwise agreed.
Reports must not be altered or presented in a manner that misrepresents our findings.
You remain responsible for decisions and actions you take following receipt of our findings.
If you intend to use our work in court proceedings, regulatory proceedings, employment decisions or another formal process, you should tell us before commissioning the investigation so that we can consider whether the proposed service and reporting format are appropriate.
14. Intellectual Property
James Rae Investigations retains intellectual property rights in its original report formats, methodologies, templates and analytical work.
Once applicable fees have been paid, clients may use the investigation report and findings for the legitimate purpose for which they were commissioned.
This does not transfer ownership of third-party material or information already publicly available.
15. Suspension or Termination
We may suspend or terminate an investigation where we reasonably believe that:
materially false or misleading information has been provided;
the investigation is being sought for an unlawful or improper purpose;
our services or findings are being misused;
continuing could facilitate harassment, stalking, intimidation or other harmful conduct;
unlawful or inappropriate investigative methods are requested;
required payment is not made; or
continuing the instruction would otherwise be unlawful or inappropriate.
Fees for work already properly undertaken may remain payable.
16. Liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so.
We are not responsible for inaccuracies in third-party or publicly available information where those inaccuracies could not reasonably have been identified through the agreed work.
We are not responsible for decisions or actions taken by a client or another person where findings are used outside the purpose or context for which they were commissioned.
Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
17. Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with our service, please contact:
james@jamesraeinvestigations.co.uk
Please see our Complaints Procedure for information about how complaints are considered.
18. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time.
The Terms applying to an individual investigation will be those provided or agreed as part of that instruction unless otherwise agreed.
19. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
If you are a consumer, nothing in this provision deprives you of any mandatory rights or protections you may have under applicable law.
20. Contact
James Rae Investigations
Email: james@jamesraeinvestigations.co.uk