Refund Policy

1. Scope

This policy applies to all payments made to Pratica for services ordered online or by direct agreement. It does not cover third-party official fees (for example, consular fees, apostille fees, or postage), which are charged and refunded by the relevant authority.

2. Statutory cooling-off period

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the client holds a 14-day right of cancellation from the date of purchase. No reason is required.

How this right is lost. The cooling-off right ends when both of the following apply:

• the client has expressly requested that the service begin before the 14 days expire, by ticking the acceptance checkbox at checkout; and
• the service has been fully performed within that window.

How to exercise the right. Email info@pratica.uk with the subject “Cancellation” within 14 days of purchase. Pratica will reply within 3 business days, either confirming the refund or explaining the calculation of the component already delivered.

3. Service-specific delivery milestones

Each service has a defined point at which it is considered fully performed. After that point, the statutory cooling-off right no longer applies.

Prenotami Monitoring (£74)

Slot monitoring begins immediately after payment. The service involves ongoing operational cost (continuous manual watch on consulate release windows by trained specialists).

• Full refund if cancellation reaches Pratica before monitoring is activated (typically within 24 hours of purchase, and only if no monitoring window has yet been worked).
• Once monitoring is activated, no refund is due regardless of outcome. Slot availability depends entirely on the consulate and on the Prenot@Mi system.
• The service is considered fully performed at the moment a confirmed appointment is registered in the client's name.

Citizenship Concierge (£838)

Full refund if cancellation reaches Pratica before any phase of work has begun. Once work has started, a proportionate deduction is calculated against the phases below. The scope described under each phase is representative and not exhaustive; actual work performed may vary depending on the complexity and circumstances of each case.

Phase 1 — Case assessment, eligibility analysis & strategy (15%)

Work within this phase includes, but is not limited to: lineage chain verification against current Italian nationality law (L. 91/1992, L. 74/2025, and relevant ministerial circulars); cross-checking of generational limits, naturalisation breaks, 1948 maternal line restrictions, and comune-specific registration requirements; consulate-specific requirement mapping maintained from direct operational experience; and document acquisition sequencing strategy tailored to the client's ancestry path.

Phase 2 — Document acquisition, verification & preparation (30%)

Work within this phase includes, but is not limited to: UK and Italian vital record identification, acquisition planning, and cross-referencing; ANPR certificate requests and verification; GRO certificate ordering checked against Italian naming conventions and transliteration edge cases; document completeness audit against consulate-specific acceptance criteria; and multi-source cross-referencing where records conflict or contain discrepancies.

Phase 3 — Certified translations, apostille coordination & quality control (25%)

Work within this phase includes, but is not limited to: certified English-to-Italian translations prepared to consulate-specific formatting standards; FCDO apostille sequencing and coordination — apostille must precede translation, and incorrect order invalidates both documents; translation accuracy verification against source documents and Italian civil law terminology; and final presentation formatting against each consulate's current acceptance criteria.

Phase 4 — Consulate filing, appointment acquisition & case management (30%)

Work within this phase includes, but is not limited to: Prenotami appointment monitoring and acquisition, performed manually by trained specialists; filing package assembly in consulate-required order and format; pre-submission review against current acceptance criteria; post-filing AIRE registration monitoring; post-recognition administrative guidance; and ongoing case coordination throughout the engagement.

After the 14-day cooling-off period, no refund is due for phases already completed or substantially commenced. For phases not yet started, a partial refund may be issued at Pratica's discretion.

4. Statutory full refunds

A full refund is due, regardless of progress, in the following cases:

• duplicate payment or processing error caused by Pratica or its provider;
• unauthorised transaction (fraud);
• failure to supply the service as agreed, where the issue cannot be reasonably remedied.

5. Third-party fees

Fees charged by third parties — consular fees, apostille fees, postage, courier charges — are paid to the third party and are not refunded by Pratica where the third party will not refund them. Pratica will assist in contacting the third party where reasonable.

6. Delays and delivery timelines

All delivery timelines stated on this website or in correspondence are estimates, not guarantees. The service depends on third-party systems and government bodies that operate independently of Pratica. A delay, even a substantial one, does not in itself amount to a failure to supply, provided Pratica continues to actively work on the case.

Delays outside Pratica's control

• Italian consulate closures — Italian and UK public holidays, reduced August activity, staffing shortages, ad-hoc closures.
• Prenot@Mi or FAST IT downtime, maintenance windows, or unannounced interface and procedural changes.
• Consulate processing backlogs — AIRE, jure sanguinis, transcriptions of birth or marriage records.
• Royal Mail delays, service disruptions, industrial action, lost items, or failed delivery attempts.
• FCDO apostille processing backlogs and Italian Ministry inter-office delays.
• Changes to Italian law, consular procedure, government policy, or inter-ministerial regulations.
• Failures of payment processors, email providers, or government portals used in the course of the service.
• Force majeure — industrial action, natural disasters, government shutdowns, pandemic restrictions, civil unrest.

Delays caused by the client

• Documents provided that are illegible, incomplete, or incorrect. Each round of corrections adds time.
• Slow responses to Pratica's requests for information, documents, or one-time codes.
• Incorrect personal details requiring re-work or resubmission.
• Missed appointment without notice, requiring monitoring or booking to restart.
• Mid-engagement changes to scope, consulate preference, or requirements.

What “active work” means

Pratica is considered to be actively working on the case when it is monitoring systems, preparing documents, liaising with third parties, or waiting for a third party to act. Active work includes watching Prenot@Mi during release windows even when no slot appears for an extended period, awaiting consulate processing after a submission, awaiting Royal Mail delivery, or awaiting the client's response. A period without visible output does not mean no work is being done.

Seasonal and systemic factors

Italian consulates observe Italian national holidays (Liberation Day, Republic Day, Ferragosto, All Saints' Day, Immaculate Conception, Christmas, New Year) in addition to UK bank holidays. August is a period of significantly reduced activity across all Italian diplomatic offices. Year-end and pre-summer periods see higher demand and longer processing times. These patterns are recurring and should be anticipated when purchasing time-sensitive services.

7. Client acknowledgement

By ticking the acceptance checkbox at checkout before payment, the client expressly acknowledges and accepts that:

• all timescales communicated by Pratica are estimates, not guarantees;
• delays caused by factors outside Pratica's reasonable control are not grounds for a refund or complaint;
• Pratica is not liable for the speed at which third parties (consulates, government bodies, postal services, courts) process requests or release appointments;
• a reasonable delay in delivery, where Pratica continues to actively work on the case, is not a failure to supply.

8. Non-refundable situations

No refund is due in the following circumstances:

• the service has been fully performed as agreed;
• components already delivered at the time of cancellation;
• the client has not provided required information within 60 days despite reminders;
• the client has provided false or misleading information;
• appointment no-show without at least 48 hours' notice;
• third-party fees already incurred (for example, apostille fees paid on behalf of the client);
• outcomes determined by a consulate, comune, or other government body;
• abusive, threatening, or harassing conduct towards Pratica's personnel;
• purchases made in bad faith, including for the sole purpose of filing a complaint or publishing a negative review.

9. How to request a refund

Email info@pratica.uk with the client's name, order reference, purchase date, and the reason for the request. Pratica will acknowledge within 3 business days.

10. Processing timeline

Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method within 14 days of the approval date. The exact arrival time depends on the card issuer and the client's bank.

11. Payment documentation and consent records

All payments are processed through Stripe, a PCI-DSS compliant payment platform. Each transaction is fully documented, including digital receipts, transaction metadata, timestamps, and the record of every acceptance checkbox ticked before payment. This documentation is retained and may be used as evidence in the event of a dispute, chargeback, or formal complaint.

12. Chargebacks, disputes, and abuse

Before raising a dispute with a bank or card issuer, the client is asked to contact Pratica at info@pratica.uk. Most concerns are resolved directly within 5 business days.

If a chargeback is nevertheless raised, Pratica will provide the card issuer with the full transaction record, including digital receipts, IP addresses, timestamps, user-agent data, and the record of each checkbox accepted before payment. Chargebacks based on delays falling within the terms accepted at checkout, or otherwise without legitimate basis, will be contested in full.

Patterns of abuse — repeat chargebacks, coordinated complaints, suspicious purchasing behaviour — will be flagged to payment processors and may result in the client being permanently blocked from Pratica's services. Pratica reserves the right to pursue legal remedies in cases of false, misleading, or defamatory statements published without legitimate grounds.

13. Pratica's right to cancel

Pratica may cancel and terminate a service where the client breaches the Terms of Service, provides false or fraudulent documents, engages in abusive or threatening conduct, or purchases a service in bad faith. In such cases, only the portion not yet commenced may be refunded at Pratica's discretion; work already performed is non-refundable. The client is notified by email with the reason.

14. Statutory rights

Nothing in this policy affects the client's statutory rights under UK consumer protection law. Where UK law requires a cash refund, Pratica will provide it.