Affiliate Programme Terms

1. Operator and scope

The programme is operated by Marcin Polak Nasi Przodkowie, trading as The Polish Genealogist, registered at 9 Sienna Street, 70-542 Szczecin, Poland. EU VAT ID: PL5252912507. REGON: 522349247. In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the operator. “Affiliate”, “you” and “your” refer to an applicant whom we approve in writing.

These terms apply to the affiliate programme available through polishgenealogist.co.uk/affiliate-program/. They supplement the individual approval email or written affiliate schedule that states your commission rate, eligible services and payment arrangements. If an individual written schedule expressly conflicts with these terms, the schedule prevails for that point.

2. Application and approval

Applying does not create an affiliate relationship. You must be at least 18 years old, provide accurate information and have legal capacity to enter into this agreement. We may accept or decline an application at our discretion.

The agreement starts only when we approve you in writing and provide or confirm your individual referral identifier. Approval is personal to you and cannot be transferred, sold or shared. We may require identity, business, tax or payment information before approval or payment.

3. Independent relationship

You act as an independent affiliate. Nothing in this agreement creates employment, worker status, partnership, franchise, joint venture, agency or authority to bind us. You cannot make commitments, accept orders, collect client payments, negotiate our services or represent that you work for us.

You decide whether, where and when to publish permitted content, subject to these terms and applicable law. There are no guaranteed hours, referrals, earnings or minimum payments.

4. Referral links and attribution

We provide an individual link containing an approved identifier, normally in the form ?ref=your-id. You must use the identifier exactly as supplied and must not modify another affiliate’s identifier.

When browser storage is available, a valid referral identifier may be retained in the visitor’s browser for up to 30 days. A valid referral identifier present in the purchase journey takes priority over an older stored identifier. Attribution can be lost if the visitor removes the identifier, blocks or clears cookies, changes browser or device, uses a different route, or completes the purchase after the tracking period.

Commission is available only for eligible purchases completed through our website’s online checkout with your valid referral identifier recorded for the order. A link click alone does not qualify. Enquiries, telephone or email orders, payments arranged outside the website checkout and purchases without a recorded referral identifier do not earn commission or count towards a tier, even if the client originally visited through your link. Our payment records and order emails provide the evidence used to verify attribution. Where reliable records conflict, we will explain our good-faith determination.

5. Eligible sales and commission

You may recommend any of our services or guides, subject to the promotion rules below. Commission is earned only on a qualifying service order with an eligible service value of at least £350, paid through our website checkout and attributed under section 4. Orders below this threshold do not earn commission and do not count towards the commission tiers. There is no separate restricted list of services.

The eligible service value is the amount paid for our services in one order after any discount, excluding VAT, other taxes and external costs, including third-party archive or official fees and postage. Separate orders cannot be combined to reach £350. For an order paid in USD, we test the threshold using the corresponding GBP tariff for the same service scope and quantity, with the same discounts and exclusions. We do not use a changing exchange rate to determine eligibility. Commission on an eligible USD order is calculated on the actual eligible USD service amount paid.

The standard commission tiers are 10% for your first 10 qualifying paid orders, 15% from your 11th qualifying paid order and 20% from your 21st qualifying paid order. Once 10 qualifying orders have been counted, the next qualifying order earns 15%; once 20 have been counted, the next earns 20%. The rate for an order is determined by the number of qualifying orders before it. Earlier commission is not recalculated when a threshold is reached.

We count separate eligible orders attributed to your approved identifier and paid in cleared funds. An instalment, additional payment for the same order, link click, enquiry or logged placement is not a separate qualifying order. Cancelled, refunded, disputed, reversed or charged-back orders do not count. We verify the qualifying order count when preparing your commission statement. If an order later ceases to qualify, it is removed from the count used for future orders.

Commission is calculated on the eligible service value defined above. This is your gross commission before the settlement costs and deductions described in section 6. Your written approval confirms your referral identifier and payment arrangements. These standard rules apply to new approvals from 13 October 2026; an existing individual written schedule remains in force unless changed in accordance with section 16.

A sale qualifies only if it meets the threshold and attribution rules above, is paid in cleared funds and is not cancelled, refunded, disputed, reversed or charged back. Self-referrals, purchases by your household or controlled business, duplicate orders, fraudulent activity and test orders do not earn commission or count towards a threshold.

If a commission has already been paid on a transaction that is later refunded, reversed or charged back, we may deduct that amount from future commission or request repayment. Earnings are not guaranteed.

6. Statements and payment

We pay qualifying commission by the 20th day of the calendar month following the month in which we receive the client payment in cleared funds. If the 20th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Poland, the deadline moves to the next business day. A business day means Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in Poland. For example, a qualifying client payment received on 28 May is paid out by 20 June, or the next business day if that date is not a business day. Eligibility and refund checks are completed for the statement before payment; cancelled, refunded, disputed, reversed or charged-back orders are excluded. The payment currency, method and required invoice or accounting document are confirmed in your written approval.

Our standard settlement method is direct payment to you against a valid invoice for your referral or marketing services, based on our verified commission statement. You do not need to use Useme or form a limited company to participate. A UK sole trader may invoice under their own name. You remain responsible for any self-employment, tax registration and reporting requirements that apply to you; see GOV.UK sole trader guidance.

Your invoice must identify you by your name or legal business name and address, identify the operator named in section 1 as the customer, and include a unique invoice number, invoice and service dates, a description of the referral or marketing service and period, the amount and currency, and VAT details only where legally applicable. We confirm payment details separately. For UK invoices, see GOV.UK invoice requirements. A payment receipt alone is not a substitute for the invoice needed to document the service.

Useme or another agreed settlement intermediary is an optional alternative, for example where you cannot issue an appropriate invoice directly. It is not a condition of joining the programme. We must agree its use before settlement, and the intermediary must accept the parties and the transaction. If this option is used, you complete its verification and supply any required evidence of the work; we receive the intermediary’s invoice.

Your net payout is the gross commission less the transaction-specific settlement costs. These may include the intermediary’s fee, payment-processing charges, bank charges, currency-conversion costs and any tax, withholding or statutory amount that we are legally required to pay or deduct specifically because of your payment. We will not deduct our general overheads, unrelated taxes, our ordinary business income tax or our own VAT liabilities as the purchaser of your services. Your statement will show the gross commission and deductions used to calculate the net payout.

You are responsible for supplying accurate payment and tax details. If payment cannot be completed because required information or a valid invoice is missing, a payment is disputed or an intermediary you have agreed to use has not accepted the transaction, we will explain the reason and what is needed. We will pay promptly once the impediment is resolved. We do not disclose a client’s genealogy information to prove a referral; a commission statement may use a transaction reference and the information reasonably necessary to explain the calculation.

7. Responsible promotion

Your recommendation must be honest, relevant and useful to the audience. You must follow the rules of each website, forum, group, mailing list or platform. You may link only where promotional or affiliate content is permitted.

You independently choose whether, where and when to publish, and write and control your own contributions. We do not commission a specific publication, direct your wording or require prior approval of each post. As between you and us, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, you are responsible for your content, its accuracy, legality, permissions, intellectual-property compliance, disclosures and compliance with platform or community rules. You publish in your own name and not as our employee, agent, representative or authorised spokesperson. Registration, link tracking, a logged placement, a later review or commission payment does not mean we authored, approved or adopted your content.

You must not claim or imply that a record will be found, a research result is certain, citizenship is guaranteed, an authority will accept particular evidence, or a service includes work beyond its current description. You are not required to include prices in your posts. If you choose to mention a price, turnaround time, discount or service detail, it must accurately reflect the current information on our website; you cannot set prices or make commitments on our behalf.

8. Honest recommendations and transparency

This programme is designed for useful, relevant contributions that help people understand their family history and find appropriate specialist support. Your answer should provide genuine value before it introduces one of our guides or services.

If you may earn commission through a tracked link, make that relationship clear at the start of the relevant contribution or immediately beside the link. For UK audiences, current guidance treats commission-based affiliate content as advertising even when the contribution is informative. Use a clear label permitted by the platform, such as “Ad - I may earn a commission if research is commissioned through this link”. Do not hide the explanation at the end of a post, behind “more”, only in your profile or only in general terms.

Follow current CMA guidance for content creators, ASA/CAP affiliate marketing guidance, the rules of the forum or community and the consumer-protection rules that apply to you and your audience.

Your participation, use of a referral link, receipt of commission, submission of a link to our register or our later review of public content does not mean that we authored, directed, approved or adopted your contribution. Any examples or optional materials we provide are general guidance only. You remain responsible for adapting and checking what you publish.

9. Prohibited activity

You must not:

• send spam, unsolicited bulk email, unsolicited private messages or automated posts;
• hide, force or automatically place referral cookies, use cookie stuffing, misleading redirects, pop-ups or software that replaces another referral;
• buy clicks, generate artificial traffic, create fake enquiries or arrange sham purchases;
• pretend to be a client, publish fabricated reviews or conceal that content is incentivised;
• use our name in paid search advertising, bid on our brand or confusing variants, or direct paid adverts to our website without written permission;
• register domains, social accounts or business listings that imitate The Polish Genealogist or Nasi Przodkowie;
• publish unauthorised coupons, cashback, prizes or incentives;
• place links beside unlawful, discriminatory, hateful, sexually explicit, deceptive or infringing material;
• subcontract, create a sub-affiliate network or allow another person to use your identifier without written permission; or
• collect money, identity documents or genealogy information from a client on our behalf.

10. Brand and content use

During approval, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable permission to use the approved referral link and any promotional material we supply solely for this programme. We retain all rights in our names, logos, website, reports, photographs and text.

Do not alter our logo, copy substantial website content, imply sponsorship or exclusive status, or create materials that could be mistaken for our official website or communication. You must stop using our brand and remove programme links when approval ends.

11. Personal data and confidentiality

We process application and payment-administration data as explained in our privacy policy. Referral tracking may use the identifier and a first-party cookie as described in these terms and our cookie information.

If you collect personal data for your own marketing, you are independently responsible for having a lawful basis, giving appropriate privacy information, respecting objections and following applicable electronic-marketing rules. You must not send us personal information about a prospective client without that person’s permission.

Non-public commission rates, payment information, programme materials marked confidential and any non-public business information must be kept confidential. This obligation continues after the agreement ends.

12. Tax and legal compliance

You are responsible for declaring affiliate income and paying any tax, social-security contribution, VAT, sales tax or similar amount that applies to you. Direct invoicing or using an optional intermediary does not remove these responsibilities. We remain responsible for any tax reporting, VAT accounting or withholding obligations that the law places on us; these terms do not transfer those statutory obligations to you. If the law requires us to withhold, report or pay an amount specifically in connection with your payout, we may deduct it under section 6 and, where reasonably available, provide evidence of the deduction.

You are also responsible for any registration, permit or immigration condition affecting self-employment or commercial activity. We do not provide tax, immigration or legal advice to affiliates.

13. Monitoring and correction

We may ask you to log the public page or discussion URL where a recommendation appears, together with the referral URL used. A logged placement is a monitoring record only. It does not by itself earn commission, prove attribution or count towards a higher rate unless your written schedule expressly says so. You must keep submitted information accurate and tell us if a placement is removed or materially changed.

We may review public content that uses our name or referral links. If content is inaccurate, undisclosed, unlawful, contrary to platform rules or inconsistent with these terms, we may require correction or removal within a reasonable period. Serious or repeated breaches may result in immediate suspension, withheld disputed commission and termination. You must cooperate with a reasonable investigation of suspected fraud or attribution error.

14. Suspension and termination

Either party may end the agreement by written notice. We may suspend tracking or terminate immediately for fraud, misleading advertising, spam, misuse of personal data, brand impersonation, unlawful conduct, material breach or conduct likely to damage clients or our reputation.

After termination, remove our referral links and protected materials promptly. Valid commission on eligible sales completed before termination remains payable after the normal checks, unless it resulted from a breach, fraud or prohibited activity. Clicks or purchases after termination do not earn commission.

15. Availability, responsibility and liability

We do not guarantee that the website, referral tracking or any platform will be uninterrupted or error-free. We are not liable for attribution lost through blocked or cleared cookies, device changes, removed identifiers, platform action, third-party outages or activity outside our reasonable control.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for content independently created, selected or published by an affiliate, or for an affiliate’s breach of law, platform rules or these terms. You must promptly handle and cooperate with any complaint concerning your content.

To the extent lawfully recoverable, you will reimburse us for reasonable losses, liabilities, third-party claims and professional costs that we incur as a direct result of your unlawful content, infringement of another person’s rights, failure to disclose the commercial relationship or material breach of these terms. This does not apply to the extent that a claim was caused by our own breach, negligence or materially inaccurate wording supplied by us and reproduced by you without alteration.

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that, neither party is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss, loss of anticipated profit or loss of opportunity arising from the programme. Our total liability connected with the programme is limited to unpaid commission properly due to you in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

16. Changes, law and contact

We may update these terms for legal, technical or operational reasons. Material changes affecting an approved affiliate will be notified by email and apply prospectively from the stated date. If you do not accept a material change, you may end the agreement before it takes effect.

If part of these terms is unenforceable, the remainder continues. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You cannot assign this agreement without our written consent. Notices may be sent by email to the address used for the programme.

This agreement is governed by Polish law, without excluding mandatory rights or rules that cannot lawfully be displaced. Courts with jurisdiction under applicable law will hear disputes; where a choice is legally permitted, the courts competent for Szczecin, Poland have jurisdiction.

Questions and notices: contact@polishgenealogist.co.uk.