Booking and charges
Charges
Language interpretation
A charge of £43.50 per hour (pro-rata) will be made for language interpretation provided by RGIS list of interpreters. Plus £5.25 daily Oyster fee for travel to sessions within the borough.
If we have to pay for any external agency interpreters, these will be rechargeable at cost rate. The cost rate will be agreed with the referrer as part of the pre-confirmation of booking.
If required, a copy of all agency invoices will be available.
Telephone interpreting
A charge of 70p per minute will be made for all telephone interpreting requests.
Administration charge £10.
Video remote interpreting (MS Teams/Zoom/Whatsapp video call)
A charge of 70p per minute will be made for all video remote interpreting.
Administration charge £10.
Cancellation charges
A fee charge of minimum one hour or the full duration requested will be applied if the booking is cancelled within 24 hours' notice. No charge if cancellation more than 24 hours’ notice.
Translation
A charge of £31 for the first 100 words translated and £11 for each subsequent 100 words.
Administration charge £20.
British Sign Language
The range of charges for BSL freelance interpreters will be a flat rate of between £170 and a maximum of £190 for 3.5 hours, plus travel. The variation may be due to:
- the lateness of booking
- out of office hours or weekend times
- the complexity of the job
- whether the interpreter is in-house, freelance or agency
RGIS will try and source the lowest rate but notify the client in advance of the actual cost when the booking is secured.
Two BSL interpreters will be needed for sessions longer than 2 hours.
Cancellation charges for BSL
A charge of 50% will be made if a session is cancelled with 8 to 14 days’ notice.
The full fee will be charged if a session is cancelled 7 days or less before the appointment.
No charge will be made if a session is cancelled outside of these timescales.
Invoices
RGIS will invoice external customers on a monthly basis and complete regular journal transfers for internal customers.
All RGIS transactions are subject to VAT (external customers only).
How to book a service
To book an interpreter or translator, please complete our booking form or contact the Royal Greenwich Interpreting Service directly.
Book an interpreter or translator
We recommend that you book an interpreter as early as possible. We can provide a crisis service as necessary, but as much notice as possible for non-urgent bookings. It is a good idea to book an interpreter at the same time as you arrange the meeting that you will need them for.
Cancelling a booking
If you need to cancel a booking, please let us know as soon as possible. A charge of one hour will be applied if the booking is cancelled within 24 hours' notice. There is no charge if cancelled with more than 24 hours' notice.
For British Sign Language, a charge of 50% will be made if a session is cancelled with 8 to 14 days' notice. The full fee will be charged if a session is cancelled 7 days or less before the appointment. No charge is made outside of time this as staff can secure alternative work.