Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 15 September 2026

In short: we agree everything with you by phone before any collection happens. You then have 14 days to change your mind, unless you've asked us to start sooner. We hold your originals and archive safely until you've paid.

1. Who we are

Valediction ("we", "us", "our") provides document and photograph digitisation and secure destruction services. Contact: hello@valediction.co.uk · 0330 043 0882.

2. How a contract is formed

Your contract with us is agreed during our initial phone consultation ("We chat"), where we discuss what's involved and agree to proceed. This makes our agreement a distance contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Immediately after that call, we will send you written confirmation by email, including:

A description of the service you've asked for
Our rates and an estimate based on what you've told us
Notice of your right to cancel (see section 3)
A cancellation form you can use if you wish

We will not collect anything from you, or begin any work, until this confirmation has been sent.

3. Your right to cancel

You have 14 calendar days from the date of our phone agreement to cancel this contract without giving any reason. To cancel, simply tell us by phone, email, or using the cancellation form we send you.

If you cancel within this period, we will refund anything you've already paid within 14 days of your cancellation notice.

Requesting an immediate start

If you'd like us to begin collection and digitisation before the 14-day period ends — for example, because of a time-sensitive probate deadline — you can ask us to do this. We will only start early if you give us this request in writing (including by email or text).

If you make this request and then cancel before the 14 days are up, you will be asked to pay a reasonable amount for the work we've already carried out up to the point you told us you were cancelling — this will be calculated using the rates on our pricing page, applied to whatever has actually been digitised at that point.

4. Payment

Once digitisation is complete, we will send you a final, itemised invoice based on our published rates and the exact amount of material processed.

Your physical originals and your finished digital archive will be held securely by us and released to you once your invoice has been paid. Nothing you've asked us to keep will be destroyed until you've approved this in writing and payment has been settled.

If, after seeing your final invoice, you decide not to proceed, we will return everything to you as it was provided, subject to section 3 above regarding any work already carried out at your request.

5. What we do with your things

Wills, deeds, certificates, and original photographs are never destroyed — they are always returned to you. Only paper you've confirmed you don't want back is securely shredded, and we provide a certificate of destruction for this.

6. Our liability

We take great care in handling your belongings. We hold Care, Custody and Control insurance covering loss or damage to your property while it is in our care, and our liability for any such loss or damage is limited to the amount recoverable under this policy. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses. Nothing in these terms limits our liability where it would be unlawful to do so.

7. Complaints

If you're unhappy with our service, please contact us directly at hello@valediction.co.uk so we can put things right.

8. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.